A joint conference focused on refrigerants and hosted by Atlanta-based ASHRAE and the National Institute of Standards and Technology has been scheduled for October 29 through 30 at NIST’s headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md.

Under the banner “Moving toward Sustainability,” the conference will address international concerns about the impact of refrigerants on climate change, which inevitably lead to increased focus on refrigerants with a low global warming potential (GWP) applied in high-efficiency systems, says Piotr Domanski, conference co- chair. “This includes new generations of unsaturated flourochemicals and expanded use of ‘natural’ refrigerants,” he says.

The conference will provide the latest information on alternative refrigerants, likely time schedules, transition requirements, environmental effects of refrigerants, new refrigerant performance considerations and what will be required to phase out the use of refrigerants deemed high in global warming potential.

Anyone involved in the different aspects of refrigerants and refrigeration technology, such as policymakers, manufacturers, researchers and government officials, will have an opportunity to learn about the latest developments and directions going forward. The conference will include presentations and papers from global experts on topics such as:
  • Status of current environmental, scientific and regulatory activities.
  • Potential applications of natural refrigerants like ammonia and carbon dioxide.
  • Technical developments on new low GWP flourochemical refrigerants.
  • Equipment applications using low-GWP alternatives.
  • The opportunities for reducing refrigerant emissions.
  • Panel discussions by industry experts at the end of each day.
Registration opens in June. The cost is $390 ($340 for ASHRAE members). For more information, visit www.ashrae.org/refrigerants2012.

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