Environmental testing preps for tighter sustainability rules

Most engineers are used to the steady winds of change in refrigerant regulations as global agreements lead to new standards from the U.S. EPA and its counterparts in Europe and Asia. . At the 2022 Automotive Testing Expo in Novi, Mich., one environmental-testing-chamber company gave an overview of its new technology that uses R449A refrigerant to meet the looming standards.

Beginning in 2024, Montreal Protocol A2, which includes the U.S. and most developed countries, calls for hydro-fluorocarbon (HFC) use to drop from 90% of a baseline set 10 years ago all the way to 60%.