Conference agrees international cooperation on MACs

Publication date: 20 February 2006

At the 2006 Mobile Air Conditioning Summit in Saalfelden, Austria, the European Commission, in cooperation with the US EPA Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership, and the California Air Resources Board announced their intention to harmonize Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) testing and engineering standards. They further agreed to work cooperatively to remove all barriers worldwide to the refrigerants allowed by the European Union “MAC-Directive”. Harmonized standards will help protect the climate and will reduce the consumer cost of environmentally superior vehicle mobile air conditioning systems. One immediate goal of this collaboration is to amend the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) refrigerant containment standard to satisfy EU requirements that prescribe maximum refrigerant leakage rates for mobile air conditioners in cars sold in Europe after 2008.

“On 31 January the EU agreed to phase out the emissions of refrigerant greenhouse gases from mobile air conditioning systems until 2017. Our intention to harmonize global standards to limit emissions is part of our commitment to the fight against climate change”, said Günter Verheugen Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for enterprise and industry policy.

“SAE is a global association of engineers who work through consensus to improve safety and performance of automotive technology. SAE J-2727 will certify vehicle air conditioning systems that help protect the environment with quality parts and skilled assembly that reduces greenhouse gas emissions”, said Ward Atkinson, Chair of the SAE Climate Control Committee.

“The SAE standard is the next step in achieving the goal of the Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership to reduce the emissions of refrigerants by at least 50% and to improve the energy efficiency by at least 30%. It is proof that we are well on our way to meeting those ambitious goals”, said Stephen O. Andersen, U.S. EPA Climate Protection Partnerships Division

“Ecole des Mines has developed component and system tests that will be incorporated in the SAE standard. We will do our best to create a global test and certification that will satisfy regulatory authorities throughout the world.”, said Denis Clodic, Director of Alternative A/C Projects, Ecole des Mines.

Background
The cooperation involves correlating the numerical score of the current SAE J-2727 standard with estimates of emissions (grams/year) based on a new SAE standard (J-2763) test procedure for determining HFC134a leakage rates for mobile air conditioning systems using a mini-shed test. The California Air Resources Board will accept SAE-2727 certification when calculating credits for emissions reductions under its pending climate protection laws and it is anticipated that SAE-2727 will be adopted by regulatory authorities worldwide.