Hon. Kerryne James Minister of Climate Resilience Environment and Renewable Energy in Grenada is leading by example in environmentally friendly and energy-efficient air conditioning while promoting change in the traditionally male-dominated fields.
On the 23 February 2023, an all-female team of refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) technicians installed an R-290 Split AC unit in the office of Minister James. The AC unit is one of thirty units that were installed as part of a pilot project under the project Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change (C4) to demonstrate air conditioning with natural refrigerants as a future-proof solution.
Energy-efficient split air conditioners that use the natural refrigerant propane (R-290), a low-global-warming-potential refrigerant, offer a climate-friendly alternative to low-efficiency units that use hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants, such as R-410a or R-32. R-290 is well suited as a refrigerant to numerous refrigeration and air conditioning applications in both commercial, industrial, and domestic systems.
Minister James applauded the female technicians who installed the AC in her office. Despite coming from different companies, the technicians demonstrated a high level of skill, commitment, and focused vision on completing the task at hand. This demonstrated that women are just as capable of achieving goals in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector as men.
Minister James intends to spread Green Cooling also in other government departments, offices, and public buildings. She believes this goal is achievable due to an increase of female technicians in the RAC sector. James hopes that much more women get involved and consider a career in the sector.
“We have the capacity in having much more females involved in getting into these non-traditional roles and this career path, so we have to make sure that we lead by example as small island,” – said Hon. Kerryne James, Minister of Climate Resilience Environment and Renewable Energy in Grenada
