Contracting Business/Kelly Faloon
Contracting Business/Kelly Faloon
Endeavor Business Media
Contracting Business/Kelly FAloon
Kelly L. Falloon
Kelly Faloon/Contracting Business magazine
Helen Walter-Terrinoni, AHRI vice president of regulatory affairs, discusses A2L refrigerants at the 2022 AHR Expo.

AHR 2022: Expanded Coverage of the A2L Transition

Feb. 2, 2022
A panel discussion of the A2L refrigerant transition took place Feb. 1 at AHR 2022 in Las Vegas.

A panel discussion of the A2L refrigerant transition took place Feb. 1 at AHR 2022 in Las Vegas. Speakers were: Helen Walter-Terrinoni, vice president of regulatory affairs, Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI); Dick Lord, Senior Fellow at Carrier Corp.; Mary Koban, senior director of regulatory affairs at AHRI; and Jason Obrzut, director of industry standards and relations at ESCO.

Key takeaways:

  • Phase down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). “The phase-down could be chaotic,” said Walter-Terrinoni. “We may see increased scarcity and prices. It’s all about balancing supply and demand.
  • A2Ls and applications. “What type of refrigerant an installer uses depends on the specific application,” Ford noted. “For example, lower-pressure refrigerants would be used in unitary residential structures.”
  • Safety. “A2L refrigerants went through rigorous testing at the Environmental Protection Agency before approval, and UL approved a set of standards,” Koban explained. “If installers continue using best practices, they can avoid the hazards. A2L systems will include a refrigeration detection system, an active mitigation technique where sensors are used to detect a leak and turn on the fan.
  • Training. “All industry stakeholders can benefit from training,” Obrzut said. Read a summary of his Jan. 31 session
    here.   
About the Author

Kelly L. Faloon | Freelance Writer/Editor

Kelly L. Faloon is a contributing editor and writer to Contracting Business magazine, Contractor and HPAC Engineering. The former editor of Plumbing & Mechanical magazine, Faloon has more than 20 years experience in the plumbing and heating industry. She started a freelance writing and editing business in 2017, where she has a varied clientele.

Faloon spent 3 1/2 years at Supply House Times before joining the Plumbing & Mechanical staff in 2001. Previously, she spent nearly 10 years at CCH/Wolters Kluwer, a publishing firm specializing in business and tax law, where she wore many hats — proofreader, writer/editor for a daily tax publication, and Internal Revenue Code editor.

A native of Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula, Faloon is a journalism graduate of Michigan State University. You can reach her at [email protected].