Action Opens Doors
Natural refrigerant technologies are emerging in Europe and Japan, yet we are seeing little activity in the United States. What will it take for the U.S. market to introduce CO2 based HVAC products more quickly than is happening today?
With consistency, industry leaders point toward three primary driving forces: governmental involvement, competitive pressures and profitability.
Governmental interest and involvement.
Whether in the form of incentives or penalties, governmental involvement will unquestionably drive adoption of natural refrigerant technologies. Incentives would provide tax credits to end users or manufacturers who invest in development of CO2 products while penalties might target specific applications utilizing HFC refrigerants instead of natural alternatives.
Competitive pressures
Companies are always on the lookout for the direction in which their competitors are headed. Keeping a close watch on market share, OEMs pay attention when sensing any threat to their current product offerings. Innovative companies thinking longer term invest in new technologies for sustainable competitive advantage.
Profit motive
Successful companies maximize shareholder value. An OEM would evaluate its strengths toward exploiting potential opportunities. When new products demonstrate that end users will receive greater performance and benefit financially in terms of return on investment and payback, the OEM stands to increase market share and bottom/top line performance. In the end, profitability potential will determine direction.
EcoThermics strategic focus is on this third powerful force ‐ demonstration of an unquestionably Convincing value proposition. EcoThermics CO2 compressor could displace current products and technologies and enable penetration of entirely new markets. Two such market opportunities are commercial water heating and cold climate heating. Conventional heat pumps utilizing HFC refrigerants cannot meet the temperature requirements of commercial water heating. This demand is met today through very inefficient electric and natural gas equipment. The excellent heat transfer properties of CO2 allow for movement of CO2 heat pumps higher into Northern latitudes and other cold climate areas.
EcoThermics strong, proven component technology and integrated system solutions are designed with a focus on superior durability and performance, and lower total cost of ownership. Collaborative alliances and partnerships with visionary companies willing and able to take early financial and market risk are critical to successful commercialization, as is a highly leveraged supply chain. As EcoThermics’ strategic appeal to profit motive achieves a measure of success, competitive pressures will more strongly influence decision making.
The U.S. market, while slowly preparing for adoption of natural refrigerants, is under increasing pressure to reduce energy consumption while minimizing environmental impact. Supportive governmental policies and practices will go a long way toward achieving these goals. We believe that as momentum builds with the clearly demonstrated value of a viable natural refrigerant, government will recognize the inherent benefits to society of a faster transition, thereby lending support in the form of regulation, incentives and penalties.
In the meantime, our collaborative product development activities continue, along with the education of select OEMs who have the wisdom and courage to envision a greener path ahead to sustainable heating and cooling.