European and US regulatory groups have agreed to adopt common testing and engineering standards for mobile (in other words, ‘vehicle’) air conditioners.
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A conference in Austria also agreed on international co-operation to curb ‘green house’ emissions from the air cooling and dehumidifying systems.
The European Commission (EC), the US EPA Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) also agreed to work together to remove barriers worldwide to refrigerants allowed by the European Union ‘MAC-Directive’.
In a statement, the three groups claimed that harmonised standards “would help protect the climate and will reduce the consumer cost of environmentally superior vehicle mobile air conditioning systems”.
Amending the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) refrigerant containment standard to satisfy EU requirements that prescribe maximum refrigerant leakage rates for mobile air conditioners in cars sold in Europe after 2008 is one immediate goal.
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By GlobalData“On 31 January the EU agreed to phase out the emissions of refrigerant greenhouse gases from mobile air conditioning systems until 2017. Our intention to harmonise global standards to limit emissions is part of our commitment to the fight against climate change”, said the EC vice-president for enterprise and industry policy, Günter Verheugen.
“[CARB] has worked closely with the automotive community in crafting standards that will reduce refrigerant emissions, increase fuel efficiency, and improve vehicle reliability,” added the group’s emissions control technology section manager Alberto Ayala.
The groups said the SAE J-2727 standard is the next step in achieving their goal of reducing refrigerant emissions by at least 50% and improving energy efficiency by at least 30%.
“Ecole des Mines has developed component and system tests that will be incorporated in the SAE standard. We will do our best to create a global test and certification that will satisfy regulatory authorities throughout the world,” said the organisation’s director of alternative a/c projects.
