We hear it all the time, from most organizations and environmentally conscious individuals, “We need to be more green”. From minimizing waste to lowering emissions, this umbrella applies to a lot of different things, but within HVAC it is most noticeable in emissions. The CO2 emissions that stem from these units in homes and businesses contribute a great deal to greenhouse gas emissions. What decarbonization refers to, is removal or reduction of CO2 output into the atmosphere. So as you can see, this is one of the larger costs/detriments to long term sustainability that HVAC brings. Air conditioning is responsible for the equivalent of 1,950 million tons of carbon dioxide released annually (3.94% of all greenhouse gas). So what do we need to do to be comfortable and not hurt the environment?
Decarbonization – What is it? What’s it’s role in HVAC?
We explained what decarbonization is earlier, but we need to know how lower emissions is achieved. Within HVAC, decarbonization is achieved through advancements in tech, better use of resources, alternative refrigerants, among other ways. The ultimate goal is to make machines more efficient, utilize different energy sources, and remove human error as much as possible. Elements such as geothermal heating, solar-powered ac units, and smart HVAC systems all have great beneficial impact. While some may be more prevalent than others (the industry is taking a massive shift to SMART HVAC units), they all provide great value to long term sustainability. As users upgrade their HVAC units over time, the bottom line in emissions will only get better.
Policy and Regulatory Impact
There have been many regulatory advancements to facilitate emissions efficiency as well. For example, as of 2022 new facilities require newer refrigerant that reduces emissions by 90% in California. The amount of tech advancements won’t mean much if left unadopted. The regulations provided by the EPA (i.e. min SEER rating) facilitate our transition to a greener future. As newer systems utilize efficient energy sources with better output, over time we will push towards that greener future. Europe has committed to reducing emissions by 55% by the year 2030. The Biden administration is also taking great strides to improve climate change concerns with incentives for newer units. The rebates/incentives for upgrading to more energy efficient units help push the general population in the direction of green.
For the Future – Efficiency is King
Business HVAC units constitute 40% of energy consumption, highlighting the need for optimization. Many commercial units don’t receive proper maintenance, leading to harmful emissions. Often for business owners, they don’t perceive the value of maintenance until it hits them negatively. We cannot stress the importance of having a good maintenance schedule for your building with reliable vendors. Improving sustainability is a long process, and improving operating efficiency is the best recipe for long term success. When you factor in how often these units are running (especially commercial units), the 8-10% increase from moving up SEER rating adds up quickly. For both residential and commercial, maintenance is extremely important in keeping this efficiency. It helps from an emissions standpoint, as well as your own bill every month.
Moving Forward – What to Expect
Adaptation of newer systems always takes time, either due to costs or operations. There is often a lot of time or money required to overhaul the older, less efficient systems. This causes a reluctance of both homeowners and businesses to adopt newer systems. Through subsidies and rebates, the slow adaptation will inevitably happen, but it will indeed be slow as a lot of users will resist the change regardless of how beneficial to the environment. A big takeaway is that over time we will eliminate the usage of fossil fuels – a big contributor to the emissions issues that we see. Being in California, we don’t see enough of really cold weather to need the extra bump that a gas furnace would be required. This coincides with movements such as California’s push to move to full electric heating by 2030.
Concluding Thoughts
As the technology continues to improve to maximize efficiency, it is on us to adopt and utilize it. All of these nice bells and whistles are great, but if we aren’t using them there is no improvement to our emissions and long term health. For all the comfort our HVAC units provide us, it comes with a big tradeoff to the environment – but it is improving over time. It is great that the industry as a whole, both nationally and internationally are cognizant of the need for improvement and are working towards that. It is a global issue and we are happy to see it being addressed as such. Government efforts combined with the natural evolution will propel the industry into future success. Sustainability is something we all need to be conscious of moving forward. Maintaining something as simple as home comfort can have big long term impact.