[Greenbuilding] [BULK] HCFC & HFC ozone & global warming

[Lawrence Lile]

George wrote:


>Interesting article in the paper recently.
In 1989 the Montreal Protocol called for the phase out of CFC's to
protect the Ozone layer. The problem is we switched mainly to HCFC's and
HFC's. While they are better for the Ozone layer, they are slightly
worse when it comes to global warming. 

Pound for pound, HCFC's are probably really bad for global warming compared to carbon dioxide.  But I would argue that the global warming potential of HCFC's and HFC's is negligible compared to the carbon dioxide pumped out by a coal power plant, because of the differences in sheer volume.  The HCFC's in your refrigerator, all ten pounds of it, stays in there for many years.  In most applications, at the end of the life of the appliance or air conditioner, most of the HCFC's are recovered by the HVAC technician.  Some escapes through leakage or mistakes, but most never reaches the atmosphere to do harm.  I would suggest we focus on  the bigger contributors to global warming: Cars, Coal, Natural Gas, and so forth.  

That being said, I am buying an air conditioner that uses a refrigerant with zero ozone depletion and minimal global warming potential.  

--Lawrence Lile