cooling is to meeting HFC requirements region undoubtedly, there would be more, and stricter regulations and standards surrounding energy consumption, refrigerants as well as all supporting and relevant technologies. When it comes to air conditioning equipment, Coulomb said, there is a significant gap between the most and the least energy-efficient equipment. “In any case, it is possible to really improve the energy efficiency of the equipment and for labeling the good equipment,” he said. “There will also be more standards regarding whole systems and standards on buildings.” There are already examples of systems being implemented, with a number of supermarkets presenting important profiles. “We are currently working with UNIDO to publish a guide on what are important to reduce the energy consumption and use low-GWP refrigerants, especially CO2 and ammonia,” he said. Regarding refrigerants, Coulomb said that while the Kigali Amendment remains firmly in place, many countries in the world, such as in Europe, are already having discussions on initiating stricter phase-down or phase-out of some applications of high-GWP refrigerants. “In the long term, there will be almost phaseout of high-GWP refrigerants, and of course, there will also be regulations regarding safety, because most of the technologies we can use to reduce the refrigerant impact,
In view of the looming HFC phase-down and phase-out deadlines set by the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, GCC region countries are being urged to move away from traditional cooling solutions. To this end, stakeholders during the 4th edition of Refrigerants Review, presented as part of CPI Industry’s HVACR Virtual Conference Series, discussed the opportunities District Cooling holds in view of increasingly stringent regulations. Hannah Jo Uy has the story…
which is one-third of the impact of the equipment, are using flammable refrigerant – whether mild or highly flammable,” he said. “Internationally, there are new standards for hydrocarbon. There will be a place for this refrigerant, even if it’s not used a lot.” Additionally, Coloumb said, it is likely that in the future, taxes will be used as incentive to promote adoption of better refrigerants. “We already have some taxes on some refrigerants,” he said. “In some countries, there would be taxes and higher prices, but it would be a driver for reduction of technology for the rest of the world. Perhaps, it’s not good news, more regulations and constraints. It is more challenging, but it is necessary for engineers to be more involved; in order to propose better design of equipment, you have to think about the whole system.”
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS With regulations and standards in place, it is now up to developers and designers to deliver the most optimum projects, with stakeholders agreeing there should be a culture of innovation to not only meet existing standards but also to move beyond it. In line with this, Dr Moataz T Bakheet, Director, Madinah Office & Western Region Projects, Zuhair Fayez Partnership, Saudi Arabia, shared his experience with a development in Madinah, which was particularly challenging, being a highdensity project in a small area surrounding the Prophet’s Mosque. “The unique nature of the project has given way to unique consideration at the beginning of the development, more than two years ago, which included concerns related to the
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