The guide includes profiles of natural-refrigerant ice rink installations by high-profile end users like the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and Seattle Kraken and the Beijing Olympics.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (September 6, 2022) – ATMOsphere, a global market accelerator of clean cooling and heating technologies using natural refrigerants, today announced the release of the “North American Guide to Natural Refrigerants in Ice Arenas.”
This 92-page guide, available as a free download here, provides arena owners and managers with information on why refrigeration systems using a natural refrigerant – CO2 or ammonia – are a better long-term choice from a business and environmental perspective than a system using an HFO blend like R513A or R449A.
Over the past few years, chemical producer Chemours and its marketing partner, the National Hockey League (NHL), have promoted HFO blends as “environmentally sustainable” for ice rinks.
But HFO blends – consisting of an HFC and an HFO –represent a significant threat to the environment, the guide argues, adding that, by contrast, ammonia and CO2 are found in nature and, as refrigerants, are environmentally benign, as well as more efficient and less costly than HFO blends.
“Arena owners seeking to make a prudent investment in a refrigeration system need to consider the stark differences between natural refrigerants and HFO blends,” said Marc Chasserot, CEO of ATMOsphere.
While relatively new to the ice rink arena world, CO2 is starting to be chosen as the refrigerant of choice by some high-profile entities that are profiled in the guide. These include Nationwide Arena, the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, which will be the first NHL arena to install a CO2 system, and the National Speed Skating Oval (the Ice Ribbon) at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Also profiled in the guide is the Climate Pledge Arena, home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, which chose ammonia for a facility that is targeting net-zero-carbon certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). Ammonia is one of the most common refrigerants used in ice arenas in North America, with thousands of successful installations.
The guide also features other successful installations of CO2 and ammonia ice rinks, as well as the history of natural refrigerants in ice arenas, the basics of using natural refrigerants, the efficiency advantages of natural refrigerants, regulations impacting these refrigerants and the environmental and health impact of HFO blend refrigerants.
About ATMOsphere
For the past 20 years, market accelerator ATMOsphere (formerly shecco) has been active in helping bring climate-friendly technologies faster to market. ATMOsphere supports over 100 partners worldwide in the HVAC&R sector, where the focus is on sustainable refrigeration, heating & cooling technologies using natural refrigerants.
Contact:
Marc Chasserot
Michael Garry
