EPA approves climate-friendly refrigerant under SNAP program

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on March 10 that it would approve HFC-32, also called R-32, a refrigerant for refrigeration and air conditioning, used as part of its Significant New Alternative Policy (SNAP) program.

“This acceptance of R-32 is a great achievement for the Daikin organization,” said Daikin President and CEO Takeshi Ebisu, whose company manufactures products using the refrigerant. “Not only did Daikin representatives submit the application to the EPA, but this action represents the EPA’s first SNAP approval of a lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant for any household comfort cooling HVAC application in the United States.”

SNAP, in conjunction with the executive Climate Action Plan, identifies and approves chemicals that are selected by the EPA based on their environmental friendliness. HFC-32 complies with that objective, offering a reduction for global warming potential of roughly 66 percent over the currently used products, as well as higher efficiency.

HFC-32 is chlorine-free and made up of one component. It is already being used across Asia, with an estimated 8 million units in Japan. In the U.S., it will be approved for use in equipment like terminal, window room and portable air conditioners, which fall under the UL Standard 484 category.