United States. At an Industry Leaders Roundtable held at the White House, the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) presented a report on its 2014 commitment to invest $5 billion in research over the next 10 years for new refrigerants and air conditioning equipment to support energy efficiency.
During the event, Stephen Yurek, President and CEO of AHRI, reported that the industry spent more than $255 million in 2015 over 10 years, $5 billion committed in research and development (R&D) and capital expenditures to develop and commercialize low global warming potential (GWP) technologies, demonstrating the industry's commitment to environmental management. He noted that the $5 billion commitment is in addition to the nearly $2 billion spent on this type of research in the previous five years.
"Our industry's Refrigerant Research and Equipment Development Program has made great strides, including since last year's White House event," Yurek said, noting that AHRI is finishing the second phase of a major four-year research project to identify the next generation of refrigerants.
"We are now in a position to do two things: one, we started developing equipment that will use the new refrigerants in specific applications and, two, we started focusing on another class of promising new refrigerants that are slightly flammable. Today, AHRI is committed to providing up to $1 million for a collaborative research effort, with strong guidance on how to safely use these refrigerants, and we are actively seeking additional sponsors to help fund this important research."
