-
)
Why thinking green means choosing blue
The SYSAQUA BLUE heat pump and chiller embodies Systemair’s commitment to promoting Green Ventilation
Sustainability
The SYSAQUA BLUE heat pump and chiller embodies Systemair’s commitment to promoting Green Ventilation - solutions ideal for the comfort, well-being and future of both people and the planet. Here’s why…
)
At Systemair, we have a clear roadmap in place considering the greater good of our planet. Our belief that indoor comfort and safety do not have to come at the expense of our environment led us to completely redevelop our Green Ventilation label. Green Ventilation now creates a trustworthy environmental performance benchmark for our products by imposing internally defined, hands-on and verifiable requirements across all our product areas.
In line with this move, our air conditioning products holding the Green Ventilation label feature Eurovent Certified Performance with Energy Class A or higher, state-of-the-art components that enable intelligent product operation and significantly reduced energy consumption, energy recovery, and environmentally friendly natural refrigerants with low to zero global warming potential (GWP).
The future is natural
Investing in equipment with natural refrigerants ensures the long-term sustainability of installed systems. For this reason, our SYSAQUA BLUE heat pump and chiller is a prime example of our efforts to promote Green Ventilation, proving that comfort does not have to be inconvenient for the planet. Fuelled by R290 (propane) with a GWP of 3, it has almost no environmental impact while being highly energy efficient.
The importance of using natural refrigerants is particularly vital in the context of the global move to reduce carbon emissions. In the last United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27), scientists announced that “global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are projected to increase by 1% in 2022, hitting a new record of 37.5 billion tonnes.” In fact, the United Nations warned that without “rapid and large-scale actions to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive industries”, the world will fall short of the 1.5-degree C average increase in temperatures target.
This sets the stage for a necessary discussion on refrigerants, which lie at the heart of air conditioning technologies which can be found in every home, office, mall, or industrial facility. Natural refrigerants are crucial to moving the needle in the global community’s move to reduce carbon emissions significantly, which is also why they constitute a key requirement in our Green Ventilation framework. Any progress in the right direction will go a long way, given the massive benefit natural refrigerants offer compared to the most common syntetic refrigerants in the market, which are a source of greenhouse gases.
)
The higher the GWP, the more it warms the planet
The Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) issue has been addressed in the past years in Europe, which has moved from R22 to R410A or R407C. The next challenge is to drastically reduce refrigerants’ Global Warming Potential (GWP), which refers to the impact that gas would have on the earth over time. The higher the GWP, the more it warms the planet. Natural refrigerants such as ammonia (R717), CO2 (R744), propane (R290) and water (H20) have an extremely low GWP. A traditional refrigerant such as R410A has a GWP of 2500, while the natural media R290 (propane) has a GWP of 3. For a small heat pump of 35kw capacity, this is equivalent to moving from 21-ton equivalent CO2 to close to 0 (0,01) CO2 ton equivalent.
)
Growing adoption and awareness
Although there is positive momentum in the adoption of refrigerants, and we are observing an ever-increasing interest from stakeholders, it still is a niche market with trends varying among regions. Europe is globally leading the F-Gas reduction, and the carbon green deal is pushing the adoption of more environmentally friendly refrigerants. However, the level of adoption and activity is still dependent on the wish of each EU member state. Nordic countries are leading the adoption of natural refrigerants, underscored by the decision to place a high tax on GWP.
Overall, natural refrigerants gaining a more comprehensive integration with products in the market would also depend on the market application since the thermodynamic properties can be very different between refrigerants. Propane (R290) is a perfect candidate for chillers and heat pumps and will continue to grow in the coming years.
The inevitable move towards natural refrigerants should be a consideration for building owners, as they can future-proof their developments by opting for sustainable technologies today. Choosing a natural refrigerant now is complying with all possible regulations regarding GWP. This is the benefit of opting for a genuinely green heat pump and chiller technology.
At Systemair, as a global manufacturer, we are aware of the role we play in promoting the use of natural refrigerants, which is also why we have incorporated requirements on refrigerants into our Green Ventilation benchmarks. We are committed to the cause beyond just our products, such as through running academies to educate the market on the benefits of using natural refrigerants and their contribution to carbon neutrality. We truly believe that green solutions with natural refrigerants, such as SYSAQYA BLUE and air handling units with integrated propane heat pumps, is the future of our technology. We are committed to taking a leadership role in using natural refrigerants to develop more sustainable and efficient products.