On March 12th, new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the federal agency was undertaking 31 separate actions to roll back several regulations and reconsider many others, including rules requiring the reporting and tracking of greenhouse gas emissions, and others affecting the ongoing refrigerant transition.
Not surprisingly, the announcement caused concern among the mechanical engineering community, as it signaled a dramatic change in federal environmental policy. With that in mind, to gauge reaction among engineers, I reached out to HPAC Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board, as well as Kent Peterson, P.E., chair of ASHRAE's Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization (CEBD).
An ASHRAE Past President (2007-2008) and founder of P2S Inc., an engineering and consulting firm based in Long Beach CA, Peterson authored our cover story on decarbonization technology last summer and has been a guest on the 'HPAC On The Air' podcast. His firm response surprised me.
"It has zero impact on what we're doing," said Peterson. "It doesn't really impact our work at the state level, either. And to be honest, I haven't seen anybody backing off on anything yet this year. Remember, most of these announcements are 'reconsiderations' of rules, so we are a long way away from anything concrete. I think we all should just take a deep breath and see where we are in six months."
Sound advice from an experienced industry practitioner. Noted Peterson, “The industry is already well down this road," suggesting that many manufacturers and facility owners have already come too far to turn back now.
"Captains of industry are not going to change complex and important standards based on politics," added Ron Wilkinson, P.E., LEED AP, a longtime member of HPAC Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board and the creator of the popular Johnny Tundra: Cold-Weather Engineer series. Wilkinson is an expert in building commissioning practices.
"To this point, we have not seen our clients back away from their long-term plans to transition out of the current technologies into the next," said fellow Advisory Board member Glenn Barrett, engineering manager at DC Engineering in Spokane WA. In 2022, Barrett presented a webinar for HPAC Engineering, 'Refrigerants Reckoning,' to help readers prepare for the national transition that is now upon us.
"While this Administration now is working to roll back (EPA) requirements in the name of being competitive and cost effective, we don’t know what the next Administration will do, or the one after that, or the one after that. So, many of our clients are looking at the long game in this regard."
It is the uncertainty of the moment that is creating the most angst.
"Historically, we have seen that when federal regulations back away from requirements, then the state level increases to compensate," added Barrett. "At the moment, though, we honestly don’t know how this will play out. On one hand, we certainly appreciate the significant cost and hardship to facility owners whenever a complete equipment replacement is required. But on the other hand, manufacturers have also spent millions on R&D, new product development, and listings preparing for this."
So, for now, the mindset among HVACR engineers appears to be one of just putting their heads down and pushing forward. Said Peterson, "There was a lot of discussion at our winter meeting in Orlando about where things were headed, but ASHRAE Secretary Jeff Littleton just reassured everyone, 'We're staying true to our mission.'"
For the last three years, for Peterson and members of CEBD (formerly ASHRAE's Task Force on Decarbonization), that mission has involved 90-minute meetings every other week, "and the agenda is always full," he noted. As an international society, (ASHRAE) "needs to be out in front on climate change. So we are committed to the science. And as a technical organization, that's the way it should be."
Steady as she goes, for now.
####