| In 2009 the Institute of Refrigeration joined forces with the Carbon Trust in a major initiative to cut refrigerant leakage and improve the environmental performance of refrigeration plant.
"The F-Gas Regulation is sensibly based on the principle of containment, on the basis that refrigerant contained inside plant poses no threat to the environment," said IOR President Jane Gartshore "However, it is now vital that the industry delivers on this. Otherwise we could see the introduction of more stringent controls or even a ban - on HFCs, in the future."
REAL Zero provides owners of refrigeration equipment with practical, independent guidance on how to reduce carbon emissions through improved system design, maintenance and servicing. It makes a strong case for reducing leakage to save money in replacing refrigerant, to prevent operating inefficiencies and to reduce the global warming impact of systems.
The IOR project was based on investigations carried out on sites with a variety of types of cooling systems. The results were analysed to identify the main sources of refrigerant leakage and how these can be reduced. Although the F-Gas Regulation requires equipment owners to address leakage issues, it does not offer technical advice on how to prevent leakage in existing or future systems.
This project will benefit the refrigeration manufacturing and contracting industry by:
- providing tools to help reduce the environmental impact of refrigeration equipment
- raising awareness among end users of their responsibilities in ensuring refrigeration equipment operates efficiently
- and gaining data to demonstrate UK success in containing refrigerants under the F-Gas Regulations.
- proving training support materials and programmes to improve our knowledge and understanding of why and how systems leak and how to prevent this.
The IOR will be working closely with other key trade associations and end user bodies to promote emissions reduction.
The Carbon Trust's Low Carbon Collaboration team, designed to help industry sectors reduce their impact on the environment is providing funding support for this project and for follow on initiatives such as free training days, carbon assurance and the retail refrigeration road map project.
Find out more a www.realzero.org.uk
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