New survey to study barriers to flammable refrigerants

On 12 March, a new online survey was released to collect data and decisive insights on the standards and barriers for flammable refrigerants within the EU. The survey findings will contribute to market research investigating the impact of current standards on the HVAC&R industry, and the introduction of hydrocarbon-based technology in particular. The ultimate purpose is to eliminate existing barriers for these refrigerants in the relevant industry standards.

The survey targets system manufacturers, end users, trade bodies, researchers, national authorities, and NPOs. Respondents will receive the results of the survey by September 2018. Individual responses will remain anonymous and only aggregated data will be used to analyse market trends.

The questionnaire investigates the status quo and outlook for hydrocarbon-based systems, for example:

• Drivers and barriers for their uptake;
• energy efficiency and cost compared to HFCs;
• availability of products using multiple refrigeration circuits;
• expectations about future use of hydrocarbons with and without revised standards, and;
• willingness to work with higher refrigerant charges.

shecco invites those already working with hydrocarbons as well as those not yet producing or using equipment based on these refrigerants to contribute to the survey.

About LIFE FRONT

Open until 30 April (extended deadline), the survey is part of the EU-funded project LIFE FRONT (http://lifefront.eu/), aiming to remove “barriers posed by standards” for flammable refrigerants in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump (RACHP) applications. It started in mid-2017 and will run until mid-2020.

The LIFE FRONT project is funded under LIFE, the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects throughout the bloc. It involves six partners in four European countries, and is coordinated by shecco, a market accelerator for climate technologies and natural refrigerants.

The survey is available here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4150423/LIFE-FRONT-WP3-2-Survey