Vienna, Austria: India-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has announced organising a side event called ‘Prioritizing natural refrigerants during HFC phase-down Amendment’ on June 20, 2016, at 1 pm, at Conference Room M4 in the Vienna International Centre.

Revealing the theme of the event, CSE said that environmental concerns have caused ozone depleting potential (ODP), global warming potential (GWP), energy efficiency, and life cycle climate performance to become important factors for consideration while evaluating HFC alternatives. The event, it added, intends to assess the need to update safety standards and regulations that prohibit the use of flammable or toxic alternatives in Article 5 countries, to reflect increasing interest and technological advancements.

The event, CSE said, will cover the issues of market penetration of natural refrigerants in different countries, the impediment in current safety standards for hydrocarbons and ways to overcome them, and requirements of natural refrigerants in servicing sector and support from the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (MLF).

In addition, New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Washington DC-based Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) have announced organising another side event in Hall M3 from 1 pm to 3 pm at the same venue.

The event will give an update on building air conditioning chillers. Claiming to be ozone-safe, low-GWP and energy-efficient, the announcement said that building air conditioning chillers are now available in a wide range of cooling capacities with several choices of refrigerant and manufacturer.

The announcement highlighted that some non-flammable solutions can reportedly exceed energy efficiencies currently available with HFC and HCFC chillers. Should the Parties agree, it said, easily quantified energy efficiency upgrades could be financed by the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (MLF) and marketed to building owners seeking low-carbon footprint chiller technologies.

The presentation, the announcement revealed, will include a chiller technology and market update and discussion of how A5 and non-A5 Parties can benefit from already available products, with a focus on possible MLF support for energy efficiency upgrades.