Greentech Lead America: Whirlpool will incorporate
Honeywell’s Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) with all Whirlpool U.S.-made
refrigerators. Honeywell’s Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent is the lowest Global Warming
Potential (GWP) available among non-ozone depleting substitutes.
Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent provides better
low-temperature insulation performance and higher energy savings than commonly
used hydrocarbons such as C-Pentane.
Whirlpool Corporation is the first refrigerator
manufacturer in the U.S. committed to incorporating Solstice Liquid
Blowing Agent. Whirlpool will begin production in late 2013.
“Whirlpool Corporation is an environmental leader,
developing high-quality products that offer both efficiency and low
environmental impact. Through this collaboration with Honeywell, we are once
again leading the way with the most advanced materials that offer the greatest
benefits to consumers,” said Ludovic Beaufils, general manager refrigeration
and sustainability lead for Whirlpool North America.
By incorporating this new class of blowing agents into
its products, Whirlpool can provide customers with refrigerators that offer the
best efficiency and lowest environmental footprint.
Honeywell Solstice LBA offers an 8-10 percent
improvement in efficiency over refrigerator platforms tested with hydrocarbon
blown foam insulation, and a 2 percent improvement over 245fa, currently the
most widely-used foam blowing agent in the U.S.
Honeywell Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent has a 100-year
global warming potential between 4.7 and 7, a 99 percent improvement over
245fa. Honeywell Solstice LBA is non-flammable providing safety advantages over
other hydrocarbon blowing agents.
“Honeywell’s Solstice branded solutions deliver the
optimal combined enhancement of environment, performance, safety and cost
effectiveness,” said Terrence Hahn, vice president and general
manager, Fluorine Products.
Honeywell to support California’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade
program
Recently, Honeywell started destroying inventories of
certain ozone-depleting refrigerants and selling the resulting emission
reduction credits for use in California’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade
program. The refrigerants were destroyed following protocols developed by the
Climate Action Reserve, a national offsets program that sets standards for
greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects.