The checklists and guidance sheets are critical resources for RAC plant operators as low-GWP alternatives become available to the market. Many of these solutions have flammability concerns, and compliance with safe-handling practices is necessary to eliminate risks to humans and property. Regulations also mandate increased tracking and reporting of refrigerant inventory and system leakage.

The Assessing RAC Plant Sustainability tool kit establishes:

• Mindset: Sustainability-centric attitudes among the servicing team.
• O&M Best Practice Checklists: Practical tools to assess and implement the recommended practices in their day-to-day operations.
• Measures of Success: Targets to know if O&M changes are leading to improvement including emphasis on preventive maintenance through regular inspections and upkeep of RAC equipment.

Expanding each Dimension of Practice reveals:

• O&M Best Practice Checklist (also printable in letter size for notebooks and poster size)
• Guidance Sheet which takes a deep dive explaining the steps required to successfully complete the respective checklist.
• Interactive Work Sheets where needed
• Resources for Additional Guidance

It is recommended that operators and technicians print the checklists and place them in a binder where performance can be recorded. It is also recommended that posters be printed for display in the plant operations office to reinforce the nine mindsets that are required for RAC Plant Sustainability.

The checklists and guidance sheets are compiled in a technical guide entitled “Assessing RAC Plant Sustainability” available in the ASHRAE bookstore.

The primary target group for the checklists and guidance sheets are service technicians and plant operating managers.

• For the guide to achieve its desired impact, plant owners should also refer to the guide to learn:
• ways of achieving reductions in refrigerant emissions as well as reductions in energy use,
• methods for documenting refrigerant compliance, and
• how to reduce operating costs, improve uptime, and lower service/maintenance expenses.

Governments can benefit from the guide because it can be a model for establishing requirements and compliance paths for refrigerant emission reductions and reduced energy consumption. Sections of the guide can also provide the basis for safety and sustainability regulations.

RAC equipment suppliers can serve as a distribution channel for the guide, making information available that promotes efficient RAC plant design. Better performing equipment rooms are characterized by more efficient equipment, and this guide can help owners select the competencies that lead to the best performing projects among a wide diversity of options.

The value of Assessing RAC Plant Sustainability lies in the potential to close knowledge gaps among operators, managers, owners, and policymakers in how to operate and maintain RAC plants and systems in a sustainable, efficient, and safe manner.

ASHRAE and United Nations Environment Programme OzonAction began the development of Assessing RAC Plant Sustainability under its Biennium Joint Work Plan of 2017-2018, entitled “Working beyond High-GWP Refrigerants.”

Assessing RAC Plant Sustainability was based on a four-stage plan developed by an ASHRAE Presidential Ad Hoc Committee. The plan aimed at creating an international reference in checklist form that would guide technicians and plant managers in the safe and sustainable operation and maintenance of air-conditioning and refrigeration plants. The work included a special focus on developing markets. It also was envisioned as laying the basis for a path that could verify compliance through a point-based qualification scheme.

An international team of experts in the field of RAC plant operations prepared the guidance, and before release, ASHRAE and UNEP conducted a pilot launch in both developed and developing countries to fine-tune the guidance to ensure applicability to the global market.

PRINCIPAL AUTHORS

Manuel Azucena, Director, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Technicians for Development of the Philippines (RACTAP) Inc., Manilla, Philippines

Danny Halel, Life Member ASHRAE, President, NTHALP Engineering, O’Fallon, Illinois, USA

Cesar Luis D.L. Lim, PE, Fellow Member ASHRAE, Managing Partner, Kilojoule Consultants Intl. Co., Manilla, Philippines

Carol Lomonaco, Member ASHRAE, Sr. Product Manager of Critical Systems, Johnson Controls, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Alaa A. Olama, Ph.D, Life Member ASHRAE, Head of the Overarching Codes Committees for Refrigeration and A.C. for Egypt, Member of UNEP RTOC committee, Cairo, Egypt

Howie McKew, Fellow/Life Member ASHRAE, President, Building Smart Software, LLC, Danville, NH, USA

Greg Jourdan, Member ASHRAE, Environmental Systems and Refrigeration Technology Faculty, Wenatchee Valley College, Wenatchee, Washington, USA

Arvind Surange, Eng, Fellow ASHRAE, Chairman and Managing Director, ACR Project Consultants Pvt Ltd, Pune, India

Ronald Viskil, Member ASHRAE, Manticorn bv, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Bill Walter, Life Member ASHRAE, Retired, Carrier Corporation, Syracuse, New York, USA

Essam Khalil, PhD, Fellow ASHRAE, Fellow AIAA, Fellow ASME, Professor Emeritus, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt (In Memoriam)

EDITOR 

W. Stephen Comstock, Life Member ASHRAE, Senior Consultant UNEP/Retired Publisher,

ASHRAE GLOBAL PILOT COORDINATOR

Danny Halel, Life Member ASHRAE, President, NTHALP Engineering, O’Fallon, Illinois, USA

GLOBAL PILOT PARTICIPANTS

Richard Luhm, Memphis Mechanical Services, Inc., Memphis Tennessee, U.S.A.
Lee Caulder, Memphis Mechanical Services, Inc., Memphis Tennessee, U.S.A.
Cesar Luis Lim – Kilojoule Consultants Intl. Co., Manilla, Philippines
Ng Wen Bin, Refrigeration Engineering & Indoor Environment Research Center, University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Dr. Kwame Owusu-Achaw, RAM Engineering, Ghana
Bill Walter, Carrier Corporation (Retired), Syracuse, New York, U.S.A.
Kodea Srinivas, RSP Design Consultants, Bengaluru, India

Contact steve.comstock@un.org if you have comments or questions.  Feedback will help UNEP and ASHRAE to update the checklists and guidance and to make improvements to how they are accessed.