The UK government is on a mission to reduce the country’s carbon emissions; one of the upshots of that mission is the introduction of EPCs to ensure that all buildings are as energy efficient as possible, another has to do with replacing HCFC refrigerants with more ozone-friendly alternatives. The UK, along with most of Europe, is already well on their way to completely phasing out HCFCs from industrial, commercial and domestic portable air conditioning units and refrigeration systems. For instance, the refrigerant R22 is in the final stages of being phased out and will be banned completely by the end of 2009.

According to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, all air conditioning units must be inspected, tested and approved by January 2011. This applies to air conditioning units that consist of a 12kw rated output or larger. January 2011 is 16 months away, but there are growing concerns that even this timeframe will not be enough for all assessors to inspect the thousands of buildings that need to be assessed. Having an air conditioning unit is a significant addition to your work or home space and making sure that these units are in perfect working order is imperative.

Large parts of the UK were trapped in an uncomfortable heatwave over the last 8 weeks. According to the Met Office, it’s still too early to tell if the rest of the summer is going to follow suit, but there is a strong possibility that this summer will see a heatwave in the UK to rival those of 2003 and 2006, which affected most of Europe. In anticipation of the hot weather to follow, the Met Office and the Department of Public Health have issued heat warnings and tips for coping with heatwaves throughout the UK.

When temperatures hit the 30°C mark in the summer months, we get a little uncomfortable. But high temperatures can be deadly for the elderly who, with their small incomes, cannot afford air conditioning units. Organisations in the UK and US are warning people to take precautions and help out elderly citizens this summer.

In 2003, the heat wave in England and Wales killed 2000 people, most of whom were elderly. A Help the Aged Spokeswomen in the UK says that the threat is highest for the elderly because “older people are less able to feel the heat and don’t sweat as much, so their bodies retain heat without them knowing it”. A Heat-Health warning system was set up just after the 2003 disaster to warn people of an impending heat wave so that relief units are able to provide air conditioning and refuge for the frail.

Phase out dates for HCFC R22 coolant were set according to EU regulations in 2002. Although the coolant has only a moderate Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Ozone Level Depletion Potential (ODP), the EU, set on a strict course of environmentalism, has set down laws to replace it with those that have zero Ozone Level Depletion Potential. The UK is replacing R22 with R417A, which is also up to 50% more energy efficient than the older coolant. Yet these stringent regulations should not cause major concern for people who own a portable air conditioner. Unlike car air conditioners, portable air conditioners don’t have to have their coolant refilled. The only time when more coolant would be necessary is if the air conditioner leaks or needs a major repair.

The heat in an office is inversely proportionate to the worker’s productivity in that office. This statement has been confirmed by several studies in the UK that assert that wall unit and portable air conditioners are actually a necessity more than a luxury. A study done by Daikin UK, two years back found that in excess of 60 percent of workers in the UK felt too hot in summer. A quarter of the 2000 research subjects felt ‘miserable’ when they overheated and another quarter felt more stressed and under pressure when they were too hot. Aside from this, dehydration is caused by overheating and in extreme cases this can lead to death, particularly in the elderly.

The California Academy of Science was rebuilt for energy efficiency and the new building opened to the public in September last year. The building is still winning awards for sustainable development into 2009 and recently earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional Environmental Award and became the sole winner of the international Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction.

ISH Frankfurt 2009, the year’s largest exhibition of industrial achievement in air-conditioning technology and renewable energies for buildings,  will take  place from 10 -14th of March in Germany and is the 50th anniversary of the fair. The trade fair will host 2400 manufacturers who will exhibit  their products. The exhibition centre was already fully booked in January this year. The Air-conditioning forum appears  for the third time at the conference and will touch on current themes in building service engineering and focus on larger industrial air conditioners, rather than home-based portable air conditioners.

Air-conditioning and heating systems were at the centre of a study done by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The study  suggests that operating buildings more energy efficiently could have health and safety benefits, as well as financial and environmental advantages. The researchers on the project, Mark Mendell and Anna Mirer, analysed data from 95 air conditioned offices in the Unites States that was originally collected by the Environmental Protection Agency. The  temperature and humidity in offices were  measured and office workers were asked to fill out a questionnaire to determine the different levels of comfort in summer and winter. The study found that many occupants were too cold in summer and that a proportion of the offices were too warm in winter  owing to the overuse of heating and cooling systems.

Prolitec Inc. has devised a chemical formulation that sanitises the air in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) ducts, as well as office spaces, homes, hospitals, schools and hotels. The system will be unveiled at the International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Exposition (AHR Expo) in Chicago.

The only catch is that the system, called ARIA™, only works in conjunction with other Prolitec products, for example, their Air/Q ambient-scenting and odour control systems. But it can be used in any size space and can be programmed to sanitise the air on a continuous basis or at regular intervals.