And more about adapting the whole system around fewer acceptable choices. Since 2017, the low-GWP refrigerant landscape has not changed as much as many expected. A recent review by Piotr A. Domanski and Mark O. McLinden confirms a relevant point: ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
๐ณ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐-๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐ณ๐น๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ,
๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐
๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ. This matters. The refrigerant transition is often presented as a substitution process: ✔️ Old refrigerant out, new refrigerant in. But the reality is becoming more constrained. A refrigerant now has to satisfy several conditions at the same time: ▪️ low GWP ▪️ acceptable toxicity ▪️ acceptable flammability ▪️ suitable pressure level ▪️ good efficiency ▪️ chemical stability ▪️ regulatory acceptability ▪️ manageable environmental breakdown products Very few fluids can meet all these requirements at once. This changes the competitive question. Fluorinated
alternatives remain technically important, but in Europe, they are
increasingly exposed to regulatory uncertainty, especially around F-gas,
PFAS and TFA discussions. Natural refrigerants such as CO₂, propane, isobutane and ammonia gain strategic relevance. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐. They
require different system architectures, different safety logic,
different installation competence and different service practices. So the key question is no longer only: “๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ?” It is becoming: “๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต
๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ,
๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ
๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ?” For HVAC/R manufacturers entering or expanding in Europe, this has a direct market implication. ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐-๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต. The product, the distribution network, the installer base and the regulatory pathway must be coherent. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ. ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ. ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ:
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช, ๐.๐. ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ค๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐.๐.,
“๐๐ฑ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ
๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ-๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ-๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ
๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด”, ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ
๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, 2025
Since 2017, the low-GWP refrigerant landscape has not changed as much as many expected.
A recent review by Piotr A. Domanski and Mark O. McLinden confirms a relevant point:
๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐-๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐ณ๐น๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
This matters.
The refrigerant transition is often presented as a substitution process:
✔️ Old refrigerant out, new refrigerant in.
But the reality is becoming more constrained.
A refrigerant now has to satisfy several conditions at the same time:
▪️ low GWP
▪️ acceptable toxicity
▪️ acceptable flammability
▪️ suitable pressure level
▪️ good efficiency
▪️ chemical stability
▪️ regulatory acceptability
▪️ manageable environmental breakdown products
Very few fluids can meet all these requirements at once.
This changes the competitive question.
Fluorinated alternatives remain technically important, but in Europe, they are increasingly exposed to regulatory uncertainty, especially around F-gas, PFAS and TFA discussions.
Natural refrigerants such as CO₂, propane, isobutane and ammonia gain strategic relevance.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐.
They require different system architectures, different safety logic, different installation competence and different service practices.
So the key question is no longer only:
“๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ?”
It is becoming:
“๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ, ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ?”
For HVAC/R manufacturers entering or expanding in Europe, this has a direct market implication.
๐ ๐น๐ผ๐-๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต.
The product, the distribution network, the installer base and the regulatory pathway must be coherent.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ: ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช, ๐.๐. ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ค๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐.๐., “๐๐ฑ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ-๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ-๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด”, ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, 2025