Johnson Controls commits to R-454B in North America

Johnson Controls announced that R-454B will serve as the primary low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerant in the company's ducted residential and commercial unitary products as well as air-cooled scroll chillers in North America and specific international markets where codes are in alignment. 

This transition away from the use of high-GWP refrigerants, such as R-410A, reinforces the company's commitment to addressing climate change and lowering customers' emissions for a healthier, more sustainable planet.

"Sustainability is at the heart of our business and fundamental to everything we do," said Katie McGinty, vice president and chief sustainability, government and regulatory affairs officer, Johnson Controls. "Today's announcement reinforces our continued commitment to developing best-in-class solutions that help transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. This refrigerant transition means that we will exceed key regulatory requirements and also take a significant step toward reaching one of our ambitious sustainability benchmarks: helping our customers achieve a 16 percent reduction in emissions by 2030."

The selection of R-454B, known commercially as Opteon XL41 and manufactured by The Chemours Company, follows years of research and testing by Johnson Controls into next-generation refrigerants that maximize environmental benefits while meeting critical performance, safety and market criteria. R-454B has the lowest EPA SNAP1 approved GWP for unitary applications of all ASHRAE classified A2L (low-toxicity, mild flammability) refrigerants on the market today, coming in at 466. This is one-fifth the GWP of R-410A, far lower than the pending 750 GWP limits being proposed and offering the longest-term viability. In addition, the refrigerant can reduce the energy use of HVAC systems and improve system efficiency.

"We are excited to collaborate with Johnson Controls and help deliver safe and environmentally sustainable solutions to the HVAC industry that support an effective transition to lower GWP refrigerants," said Alisha Bellezza, president of Thermal & Specialized Solutions at Chemours. "Chemours is dedicated to providing great value to our customers as they navigate through the HFC phase-down by offering refrigerant technologies with a lower GWP and improved energy efficiency, such as Opteon XL41." 

The transition to R-454B will apply only to the sale of new air-cooled scroll chillers by the pending manufacturing cutoff date of January 1, 2024, and residential and commercial unitary products by the pending manufacturing cutoff date of January 1, 2025, for the following brands: Johnson Controls, YORK, Luxaire, Coleman, Champion, Fraser-Johnston, TempMaster, Evcon, Guardian and Quantech. Existing R-410A equipment manufactured prior to the manufacturing cutoff dates can be sold, installed and serviced indefinitely.