FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
The UK government is being urged to keep “a sense of perspective” in the face of a growing row over the European Commission’s decision to speed up the phase down of global warming gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.
Despite concerted pressure from industry groups, the European Parliament voted to speed up the timetable for eliminating the use of fluorinated gases (f-gases) from use in stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems from the start of 2026.
While applauding the ambition of European administrators to show global leadership on tackling climate change, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) warned that this could have potentially lethal consequences, particularly in the developing world. It also said that if the UK decided to adopt the new restrictions it could undermine its programme for wider adoption of heat pumps and so compromise its decarbonisation targets.
BESA’s’s Technical Director, Graeme Fox said: “The proposed new timetable would require a dramatic acceleration in the adoption of alternative refrigerants. This will increase the amount of flammable gas in use which would create serious safety concerns.”
He urged the UK government to take a pragmatic approach pointing out that the industry’s workforce is not yet fully trained in the use of flammable refrigerants and that removing the option to service and maintain installed equipment with existing HFC gases would be counterproductive.
He said: “Many installed systems still have a useful operating life of at least 15 years, and it would be putting the industry and its clients in an extremely difficult and, potentially, impossible position if some of the proposed restrictions on the availability of refrigerants used for servicing these systems were adopted.
“Tearing out energy efficient and perfectly serviceable equipment would make no sense from an embodied carbon perspective and could be financially ruinous for many end users.”
The UK has continued to mirror the F-Gas Regulation despite its departure from the European Union. BESA, which created and manages the UK’s primary F-Gas Register REFCOM for safe refrigerant handling, said this was an example of when it should make up its own mind about which rules to adopt.
“What happens in Europe is still important to us and the rest of the world,” said Fox. “The rest of the world looks to it for leadership and manufacturers will have to adjust their global strategies to reflect any major changes in one of its largest markets – so this will be significant for worldwide product development.
“There have already been deaths in Africa linked to mishandling of flammable gases and a worldwide programme for safe refrigerant handling developed by the United Nations Environment Programme is only just getting up and running.
“It will take time to get technicians up-skilled, certified and able to work safely with the new generation of refrigerant gases, so it is vital that we do not jump the gun and start flooding the market with alternative systems before the workforce is competent to work with them.”
The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have still to agree on the final wording of the proposed review of the F-Gas Regulation and industry groups representing manufacturers, contractors, and end users, said they would continue to lobby for “a more realistic phase down timetable”.
Fox added: “Of course, we should continue leading the way in transitioning the world towards more environmentally benign refrigerants, but just because something is technically feasible does not mean it is morally or professionally applicable in the real world.
“We should not risk more innocent lives before we see the folly of transitioning too quickly.”
With the current economic crisis resulting in higher prices and more of a squeeze on resources, FMs need to ensure that they have robust building and maintenance services in place to control costs and reduce the need for emergency repairs. When it comes to drainage and plumbing there are also the challenges of dealing with extreme weather, from droughts to flooding, the need to meet stringent regulations and to avoid causing environmental damage.
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The results will be published online so that you can see how you compare to others within the sector.
The survey should take just 5-10 minutes of your time, and as a thank you, you will be entered into a prize draw, where one lucky winner will be picked at random to receive a £100 Amazon voucher.
To take part click here.
