2. Refrigerant Management Update — original pdf

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Refrigerant Management Agenda 01 Background on refrigerants 02 Motivation for this work 03 Project scope, progress, and lessons 04 Next steps 2 What are refrigerants Refrigerants are the chemicals that make cooling equipment work HVACs, freezers, car ACs, heat pumps, whole building chillers, and district energy Cooling solutions are part of local heat resilience efforts Refrigerants also support grid decarbonization through electrification (heat pumps, district energy) 3 History of refrigerants 1987 Montreal Protocol 1987 • Began phasing out ozone-depleting refrigerants or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) • Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) replaced CFCs. Unknown at the time, HFCs are often highly potent greenhouse gases (like R-11, R-22, more) • Montreal Protocol amended in 2016 to address this → American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act CFCs:Impact the ozone HFCs: Impact the climate 4 Climate Equity Plan Alignment By 2030, reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerant leakage by 25% ★ Strategy 1: Capture and destroy old refrigerants ★ Strategy 2: Improve building codes to encourage cleaner refrigerants ★ Strategy 3: Create incentives for leak detection and repair ★ Strategy 4: Awareness and training for HVAC service providers ★ Strategy 5: Reduce the volume of refrigerants 5 Austin’s Carbon Footprint 2024 • Refrigerants small but high-impact share of emissions • Growing cooling demand increases risk of emissions • Refrigerant management is a near-term climate action opportunity 36% 11.5M MT CO2e 31% 10% 5% 9% 9% ~575k MT CO2e 6 Insights from Climate Implementation AIM Act American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act • Federal law (EPA) to reduce HFC production and consumption • Phases down HFCs by 85% by 2036 What Does the AIM Act Mean for the City? Previously only applied to the largest appliances (50+ lbs refrigerants) As of January 2026, applies to smaller appliances with 15lbs of refrigerants (like AC units at mid-sized buildings) AIM Act Requirements: • Leak detection and repair • Recordkeeping and reporting 8 Additional Background on Project City of Austin is a early mover Few, if any, local governments are acting here Refrigerants are a JSC priority Budget recommendations in FY24 and FY25 Emerging climate action Emerging climate action comes with complexity – AIM Act, partner awareness / buy-in, more This is the first step Refrigerant management will be an ongoing effort at COA and throughout the community 9 Addressing Refrigerant Management Project Scope and Progress 10 Contract with Refrigerant Management Solutions Project Scope Internal Goals: • Inventory existing refrigerant-containing appliances owned by City facilities • Create management plan for improved tracking and stewardship of • City refrigerants Identify high-impact opportunities to transition City appliances toward lower-global-warming-potential (GWP) alternatives Community-wide Goals: • Explore community-wide actions to encourage capture and destruction of old refrigerants and reduce emissions RMS contract is ongoing. 11 1. Inventory Created an inventory of all refrigerant appliances that contain over 15lbs of refrigerant. Images sent in from all facility- managing departments. Austin Airport, Austin Convention Center, Austin Energy,Austin Facilities Management, Austin Parks and Recreation, Austin Water 208 Appliances 2. Refrigerant Management Plan 3. Community-Wide Recommendations Co-creating a management plan that includes protocols for new appliances, leak detection, appliance maintenance and end of life. Research conducted on refrigerant management initiatives and incentive programs across the country. Next Step: feasibility analysis and prioritization. Draft Management Plan 16 Opportunities Identified 12 Inventory at a Glance: 137 mid-sized appliances (15lbs-100lbs of refrigerants) 44 large appliances (100-500lbs of refrigerants) 27 extra-large appliances (500lbs+ of refrigerants) Possible opportunities for transition: • • 19 appliances using R-11 or R-22 (potentially eligible for offset creation leading to buy backs) 8 appliances using R-123 (potentially eligible starting in 2030) • Several other appliances identified with large amounts of old refrigerants in preliminary scan Total GWP of inventoried appliances: 103,635metric tons of CO₂ equivalentMT CO₂e(~2x annual COA Carbon Footprint) Mid-sized Large Extra-large 13 Transition Example: Faulk Library Chiller What makes this a priority? • Older (1980) and larger (500lbs) appliance • Uses R-11, a discontinued refrigerant • Library is actively seeking replacement It's not this simple for every appliance • Appliances are expensive to replace • Leak prevention and maintenance could be preferable Best to identify systems that are high-risk financially and environmentally • Most leak-prone • Least efficient This motivates the need for a refrigerant management plan to coordinate collection of leakage rate data 14 Management Plan Low GWP alternate equipment identification RMS drafted a clear process for: • • Recordkeeping – installations, refrigerant charge/recharge amount, more • • Maintenance to reduce emissions • • And more End of life (refrigerant recovery and destruction) Leak detection Need to co-produce final plan with facility-owning departments: Austin Airport, Austin Convention Center, Austin Energy, Austin Facilities Management, Austin Parks and Recreation, Austin Water 15 Community-wide Recommendations Austin cannot regulate refrigerants directly, but we can incentivize, convene, and build market capacity High-Feasibility Actions • HVAC workforce training and awareness campaign for service providers and building operators • Refrigerant reclamation partnerships that prioritize recovery, reuse or destruction • Further incentives that reward low-GWP refrigerants and leak detection and repair practices • Community appliance recycling drives for window AC units, refrigerators, and dehumidifiers 16 Next Steps • Operationalize refrigerant management plan across all assets - potential need for refrigerant tracking solution • Deeper analysis of priority appliances for replacement potential – including leakage rates, energy efficiency, etc. • Explore potential community-wide refrigerant reduction opportunities and assess feasibility 17 1717 Thank you. AustinTexas.gov/climate molly.ellsworth@austintexas.gov phillip.duran@austintexas.gov Extras HFCs What they are • Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are gases used in cooling and refrigeration equipment • Common in air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, and chillers. Why they matter • Very powerful greenhouse gases • Some HFCs can be hundreds to thousands of times more climate-warming than CO₂ Leaks during operation, maintenance, or disposal contribute to emissions • Refrigerant Type EPA GWP R-22 R-410A Older (HCFC) Newer (HFC) 1,810 2,088 Ammonia (R-717) Natural refrigerant 0 Ozone Depleting? Yes No No Toxic? No No Yes 20 Climate Equity Plan Alignment By 2030, reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions from refrigerant leakage by 25%. Strategy 1: Capture and destroy old refrigerants Develop a refrigerant destruction program that places a price on older high ozone-depleting substances and global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. The program could be run by the City or a contractor, increasing the capture of old refrigerants and safely destroying harmful gases. Strategy 2: Improve building codes to encourage cleaner refrigerants Closely follow developments in revised building codes that allow the use of low and no GWP refrigerants, such as California’s state building code changes and U.S. Green Building Council® policies, and move forward with code amendments and other local action as soon as feasible. Strategy 3: Create incentives for leak detection and repair Partner with grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, restaurant supply companies, refrigerated warehouses, and HVAC tune-up and repair companies to create an incentive for designing and tracking refrigerant leak detection, prevention, and repair. Regularly maintaining units and repairing leaks can help prevent leakage during disasters such as flooding and windstorms. Strategy 4: Awareness and training for HVAC service providers Create an awareness, education, and training campaign for local HVAC service providers, building owners, operators, inspectors, and maintenance leads on the importance of refrigerant management and strategies for leak detection, prevention, and repair. Strategy 5: Reduce the volume of refrigerants Emphasize the link between design and refrigerant use by reducing and preventing the use of refrigerants to the extent possible, particularly those with high GWP. 21 Prioritizing Appliances for Replacement Do we mention additional factors we could analyze? • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Energy use of the equipment Climate impact of energy use Demand management Ability to leader in DSM demand side management for ERCOT Social value of preserving the grid/resilience of the grid Ability to move to more modern technologies that provide more flexibility with smaller, modular chillers Cost of energy Leak rates Climate impact Future cost of refrigerant replacement Availability of the refrigerant Maintenance cost Compliance with federal regulations/risk management Tax advantages Depreciation Readiness/resources Impact on achieving climate plan goals Cost of new equipment Availability of alternative refrigerants Incentives 22