New Standards Pose Risks
The HVAC industry is pursuing regulatory changes to allow the use of flammable refrigerants in our homes and businesses. The risks of these refrigerants have not been adequately addressed in the proposed Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) Standard.
As a former California State Fire Marshal and Director of Cal Fire who was charged with responding to California wildfires, I am concerned that the proposed standard does not address the implications of introducing flammable refrigerants into homes and other buildings in the very high fire severity zones in California.
As you have undoubtedly seen in the news, or experienced yourself, California regularly faces conflagrations within whole communities from fast moving wildfires. It is important that the national standard address the potential impact of wildfires causing multiple releases of high-pressure flammable gases into the buildings firefighters are trying to protect under the wildfire conditions we experience in California.
The proposed national regulatory changes also do not address the seismic safety concerns we experience in California. Californians are exposed to many threats not common in other parts of the country, such as earthquakes and wildfires. It should be in the interest of the HVAC Industry to assure that the standard has addressed these issues to prevent their products from contributing to the spread of fire and subjecting themselves to the kind of liability and litigation that is driving PG&E into bankruptcy in California.
Interestingly, the fire service professionals who respond to these incidents have been left out of the standards development process by the HVAC Industry. Looking at the roster of the people developing the standard on the UL website, the absence of fire service professionals who may be affected by the introduction of flammable refrigerants into the buildings to which they respond is striking.
It is concerning that the modifications to this standard relating to refrigeration equipment would allow significant charge sizes of A2L flammable refrigerants in systems used in homes and small commercial establishments.
It would be interesting to see the test results, if any, regarding the flame spread of A2L refrigerants with the charge sizes being proposed, as well as the likelihood of the production of hydrofluoric acid that may be present under the conditions firefighters may be asked to confront.
The standard does not contain a requirement that refrigerant monitoring and detection systems be listed for the specific application or use, which has been a standard safety requirement in most industries using flammable or toxic gases.
It's not too late. The standard can be fixed. However, the public safety advocates in the fire service need to be involved to address their safety concerns. Otherwise, our firefighters and the public they serve, face potential risks.
For more information go to: www.saferefrigerants.com
Professional Codes and Standards Advisor, Consultant and Sanitation Soldier
5 年Ruben, welcome to the world of the A2L's. Glad you are getting engaged. As someone that is also deeply engaged and involved in the development of the codes and standards regulating the flammable refrigerants being pushed very hard by the manufacturers, your point of view as a safety professional and expert in the field is welcome. I also agree with a lot of your perspective. I won't assume to put myself in the shoes of a firefighter but I imagine there is a ?difference in the point of view of a career fire fighter and that of an engineer writing code and standards or designing systems. Maybe even a difference in points of view on fire safety. The fire service has not been involved in the development of the ASHRAE 15 A2L provisions and I would have to check the roster but don't believe there is a single firefighter voice on the UL committee itself, just as there are no HVACR tradesmen or contractors. One important point regarding HF: A1's might producs a minute amount only where it impinges the flame but A2L's ignite and absolutely produce HF. Your points are well taken and industry perspective appreciated.
President at JB Engineering and Code Consulting, P.C.
5 年Ruben, I am disappointed with your assertions. You need to become better educated on the development of the standards regulating Group A2L refrigerants. To claim that the fire service is not involved is an insult to all of us that work on that side of the profession. As you know, I worked diligently on mandating residential fire sprinklers in the State of California. I also did a bulk of education to the fire service. Now I am actively involved in the updating of standards that regulated the SAFE use of Group A2L refrigerants. Hence, there is input from fire protection engineers, there is also input from firefighters. These people serve on the standards committee. As for detectors, alarms, and the listing of these, it is included in great detail in the standard draft. Again, you need to read all 248 pages of the draft. Finally, you raised an issue with HF gas. That is good that you did since this has been a problem for the fire service since we started air conditioning building. Trust me, Group A1 refrigerants that you may think are nonflammable are actually listed as no flame propagation refrigerants. They still burn, they still decompose, and the result is HF gas. Hence, thinking back to my time at the Fire Academy, be aware of this gas in any fire. It is not just A2L refrigerants that give off HF gas, it is also A1 refrigerants. You need to retract your statements, they just aren't true. Julius Ballanco, P.E.
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5 年Ruben, While this issue needs to be addressed I want to comment on your statement that UL is excluding the fire service from this activity. That is simply not true, I represented the IAFF for over eleven years in the codes and standards. I have been involved in many areas and have tried to increase fire service participation. The truth is we simply ignored this issue until we found out how industry is making modifications. I actually work for UL now and agree we need to get additional fire service participation, not just in this standard but in many others. Our challenge is not to educate the fire service on the importance of this topic but rather educate the fire service on the importance of being involved with all of the standards that impact the safetry opf our work environment. Please let me know how I can assist. Sean DeCrane
Fire and Emergency management expert, Expert in codes and regulations for fire safety. Knowledgeable in stored energy systems
5 年Chief I know this is part of the effort to remove green house gases but there has been no effort to educate the fire service.? Most people do not understand the consequences for bringing this into zone lot line housing and apartments.? Great article.
Principal G. Gantt Consulting
5 年Thank you for bring this to my attention?