CLIMATE LEADERS GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORY PROTOCOL

         CORE MODULE GUIDANCE
         Direct HFC and PFC
         Emissions  from Use of
         Refrigeration and Air
         Conditioning Equipment
CLIMATED
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
October 2OO4

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The Climate Leaders Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)
developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
(WBCSD). The GHG Protocol consists of a corporate accounting and reporting standard and separate calculation
tools. The Climate Leaders Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol is an effort by EPA to enhance the GHG Protocol to fit
more precisely what is needed for Climate Leaders. The Climate Leaders Greenhouse Gas Protocol consists of the
following components:

•  Design Principles Guidance

•  Core Modules Guidance

•  Optional Modules Guidance

All changes and additions to the GHG Protocol made by Climate Leaders are summarized in the Climate Leaders
Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol Design Principles Guidance.

For more information regarding the Climate Leaders Program, visit us on the web at www.epa.gov/climateleaders

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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment Use — Guidance
                                                       Table  of  Contents
 1. Introduction	1
   1.1. Gases Included	2
   1.2. Manufacturing vs. Use Phase Emissions	2
 2. Methods for Calculating Emissions	3
   2.1. Screening Method	3
   2.2. Material Balance Method	5
   2.3. Simplified Material Balance Method	6
 3. Choice of Method 	8
 4. Choice of Activity Data and Emission Factors	9
   4.1. Screening Method	9
   4.2. Material Balance Method	9
   4.3. Simplified Material Balance Method	11
 5. Completeness	12
 6. Uncertainty Assessment	13
 7. Reporting and Documentation	14
 8. Inventory Quality Assurance and
    Quality Control (QA/QC)	15
                        CLIMATE LEADERS GHG INVENTORY  PROTOCOL

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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
                                                                             SECTION
  Introduction
          Historically, air conditioning and refrig-
          eration equipment utilized various
          Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs),
  primarily CFCs and HCFCs. However, in accor-
  dance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of
  1990 (Title VI) and the Montreal Protocol, these
  ODSs are being phased out of manufacture and
  use in the United States.  In the refrigeration
  sector, HFCs and, to a lesser extent, PFCs  are
  used as substitutes for the regulated ODSs.

  HFC emissions from the refrigeration and air
  conditioning sector result from the manufactur-
  ing process, from leakage and service over the
  operational life of the equipment, and from
  disposal at the end of the useful life of the
  equipment. These gases have 100-year global
  warming potentials (GWP), which are 140 to
  11,700 times that of carbon dioxide (CO^, so
their potential impact on climate change can be
significant (see examples in Table 1). By the
same token, any reductions of these gases can
have a large potential benefit.

This guidance document only addresses
emissions from users of refrigeration/air condi-
tioning equipment including household
refrigeration, domestic air conditioning and heat
pumps, mobile air conditioning, chillers, retail
food refrigeration, cold storage warehouses,
refrigerated transport, industrial process  refrig-
eration, and commercial unitary air conditioning
systems. Emissions associated with manufactur-
ing refrigeration/air conditioning equipment are
discussed in the Climate Leaders guidance for
Direct HFC and PFC Emissions From
Manufacturing Refrigeration & Air Conditioning
Equipment.
                    Table 1: Global Warming Potentials
  Common Name   Formula    Chemical Name                         GWP*
HFC-23
HFC-32
HFC-125
HFC-134a
HFC-143a
HFC-152a
HFC-236fa
PFC-116
PFC-14
CHF3 trifluoromethane
CH2F2 difluoromethane
C2HF5 pentafluoroethane
C2H2F4 1,1,1,2-tetraf luoroethane
C2H3F3 1,1,1-trif luoroethane
C2H4F2 1,1-dif luoroethane
C3H2F6 1,1,1 ,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane
C2F6 hexafluoroethane ((perfluoroethane))
CF4 tetrafluoromethane ((perfluromethane))
11,700
650
2,800
1,300
3,800
140
6,300
9,200
6,500
  *Global Warming Potential from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Second Assessment Report (1995).
                              CLIMATE  LEADERS GHG  INVENTORY  PROTOCOL

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SECTION
Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
        1.1.  Gases Included

        Refrigerants include a number of different
        compounds including CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and
        PFCs, all of which have global warming poten-
        tials. As mentioned, CFCs and HCFCs are being
        phased out of production due to their ozone
        depleting properties. However, some entities
        still use CFCs and HCFCs directly or in refriger-
        ant blends.

        It is customary to exclude CFCs and HCFCs
        from greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories
        because they are regulated and are being
        phased out by the Clean Air Act and also
        because their global warming potentials are
        complicated by the fact that they deplete
        stratospheric ozone, which is also a green-
        house gas. Climate Leaders allows for reporting
        of CFCs and HCFCs  as memo items on a
        Partner's inventory. They are reported as
        total release of gases but no global warming
        potentials are applied and they do not con-
        tribute to a Partner's total C02-equivalent
        emissions inventory. Therefore, Partners that
        currently use CFCs or HCFCs and switch to
        HFCs  or PFCs may show an increase in their
        overall GHG emissions inventory. Documenting
        the use of CFCs and HCFCs accounts for this
        increase. Climate Leaders considers shifts in
        CFC and HCFC use to HFCs and PFCs when eval-
        uating a Partner's reduction goal if HFCs or
        PFCs from refrigerant switching are a significant
        source of emission reductions.
                        1.2.  Manufacturing
                        vs.  Use Phase
                        Emissions
                        This document only applies to GHG emissions
                        resulting from the use of refrigeration and air
                        conditioning equipment. HFCs and PFCs may be
                        released over the entire life of a refrigeration or
                        air conditioning unit. All units can experience
                        leaks throughout their operating life and cata-
                        strophic leaks may also occur. Also, when
                        equipment is  repaired or disposed of, HFCs and
                        PFCs may be released if proper recovery
                        processes are not used. Under the Climate
                        Leaders reporting approach, Partners that use
                        refrigeration and air conditioning equipment
                        are only responsible for emissions that result at
                        their own facilities. These emissions may take
                        place during the installation, use, or disposal of
                        equipment. Partners are not responsible for
                        emissions that occur during the manufacturing
                        of equipment that arrives pre-charged to their
                        facility or from the mishandling of refrigerant
                        sent offsite for third  party recycling, reclaima-
                        tion, or disposal. Guidance for estimating
                        emissions from the manufacturing of refrigera-
                        tion/air conditioning equipment is found in the
                        Climate Leaders guidance for Direct HFC and
                        PFC Emissions From Manufacturing Refrigeration
                        & Air Conditioning Equipment.
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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
                                                                           SECTION
  Methods  for   Calculating
  Emissions
            Most large companies have emissions
            from refrigeration/air conditioning
            equipment in one form or another,
 however, the potential emissions sources and
 level of data available may differ greatly. For
 instance, a supermarket chain with large refrig-
 eration systems may have on-site storage of
 refrigerants and track detailed data concerning
 refrigerant use while an industrial company
 may simply use  air conditioning in its office
 space and not track detailed data on refrigerant
 use. Often companies whose core business
 does not include the use of refrigeration/air
 conditioning equipment exclude refrigerant
 GHG emissions from their corporate  GHG inven-
 tory as not material. However, the materiality of
 a source can only be established after it has
 been assessed. This does not necessarily
 require a rigorous quantification of all sources,
 but at a minimum, an estimate based on avail-
 able data should be developed for all sources of
 emissions1.

 Three methods with varying levels of accuracy
 and data collection required are outlined in this
 guidance to estimate GHG emissions from the
 use of refrigeration/air conditioning equipment.
 All Climate Leaders Partners are required to
 estimate refrigerant GHG emissions with one
 of the following  methods to transparently
 determine the contribution of refrigeration/air
 conditioning emissions to their overall
 inventory. Partners are required to include this
 estimate in their GHG emissions inventory
 submitted to EPA.

 Section 2.1 describes a preliminary Screening
 Method to estimate emissions based on the
type of refrigeration/air conditioning equipment
used and emission factors. This method
requires the least actual data collection. If
refrigeration/air conditioning equipment
emissions are determined to be significant
when compared to a Partner's other emission
sources (e.g., stationary combustion, mobile
sources, etc.), then one of the other methods
should be applied to better estimate emissions.

Section 2.2 describes a Material Balance
Method of estimating HFC and PFC emissions
from refrigeration/air conditioning equipment
use. This method requires available data on the
total inventory of refrigerants at the beginning
and end of the reporting period, purchases
during the reporting period, and changes in
total nameplate capacity.

Section 2.3 describes a Simplified  Material
Balance Method that is appropriate for entities
that do not maintain and track a stock of refrig-
erants and do not have any changes in their
equipment capacity over the reporting period.

2.1.  Screening
Method

Under this approach, a Partner multiplies
the amount of refrigerant in the equipment
by an emission factor for the specific
type of equipment and emission event.
The disadvantage to using this approach is
that emission factors are highly uncertain.
Therefore, this  method is proposed as a
screening test only. Consequently, if a
Partner determines that emissions from
refrigeration/air conditioning may be
  1 See Chapter 1 of the Climate Leaders Design Principles for more on materiality and significance of emissions sources.
                              CLIMATE  LEADERS  GHG  INVENTORY  PROTOCOL

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SECTION  2
Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
       significant, it is recommended that one of the
       other methods then be used. Estimating emis-
       sions with the Screening Method requires the
       following steps:

       Step 1: Perform an inventory of equipment.
          Determine the number and types of
          refrigeration/air conditioning equipment
          (by equipment category, see Section 4.1)
          including the types of refrigerant used and
          the refrigerant  charge capacity of each
          piece of equipment.

       Step 2: Determine installation emissions.
          Identify any new equipment that was
          installed during the reporting period and
          was charged on-site. Emissions from equip-
          ment that was charged at the manufacturer
          are not the responsibility of the reporting
          entity for equipment use (see Section 1.2).
          For each new piece of equipment, use
          Equation  1 to estimate emissions:

             Equation  1: Estimating
          Emissions from Installation
       Emissions from Installation = CN x (k/100)

       where:

       CN =   amount of refrigerant charged into the
               new piece of equipment

       k   =   assembly losses in percent of amount
               charged

       Step 3: Determine operating emissions. This
          step estimates  losses from equipment leaks
          and service losses over the life of the equip-
          ment. For all pieces of equipment, use
          Equation 2 to estimate emissions:
                             Equation  2: Estimating
                          Emissions from Operation
                        Emissions from Operation = C x (x/100) x T
                        where:

                        C  =  charge capacity of the piece of equip-
                              ment
                        x  =  annual leak rate in percent of capacity
                        T  =  time in years used during the
                              reporting period (e.g., 0.5 if used only
                              during half the reporting period and
                              then disposed)

                        Step 4: Determine disposal emissions. Identify
                          any pieces of equipment that were disposed
                          of during the reporting period. For each
                          piece of disposed equipment, use Equation
                          3 to estimate emissions:

                             Equation  3: Estimating
                           Emissions from Disposal
                        Emissions from Disposal =
                        CD x (y/100) x (1 - z/100)
                        where:

                        CD =  charge capacity of the piece of equip-
                              ment being disposed of
                        y  =  percent of the capacity remaining at
                              disposal
                        z  =  percent of refrigerant recovered

                        Step 5: Calculate total emissions. Add the
                          emissions from each piece of equipment
                          including each type of emission from instal-
                          lation, operation, and disposal to get total
                          emissions. Calculate separate totals for
                          each type of refrigerant used.

                        Section 4.1 provides default emission factors
                        and describes the different categories of equip-
                        ment for which there are default factors.
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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment Use  —  Guidance
                                                                           SECTION
  2.2.  Material Balance
  Method
  The Material Balance Method tracks emissions
  of HFCs and PFCs from refrigeration/air condi-
  tioning equipment use through a mass balance
  analysis. Releases of HFCs and PFCs can be
  calculated based on the inventory (storage not
  equipment) of refrigerants, purchases, sales,
  and changes in total capacity of equipment
  during the emissions reporting period. The
  inventory should be tracked at the facility level
  by type of refrigerant. Equation 4 shows the
  basic principles involved in this approach.

  Equation 4: Material Balance
            of  Refrigerant
  IB + P + CB = IE + S + CE + Emissions

  where:

  IB  =  refrigerant in inventory (storage not
        equipment) at the beginning of report-
        ing period

  P   =  refrigerant purchased during the
        reporting period

  CB =  total capacity of refrigerants in equip-
        ment at the beginning of  the reporting
        period

  IE  =  refrigerant in inventory (storage not
        equipment) at the end of reporting
        period

  S   =  refrigerant sold or otherwise disposed
        of during the reporting period

  CE =  total capacity of refrigerants in equip-
        ment at the end of the reporting period

  Equation 4 can be rewritten to more easily
  calculate emissions as shown in Equation 5.
     Equation 5: Estimating
  Refrigerant Emissions with
 the Material Balance Method

Emissions = IB - IE + P - S + CB - CE

Equation 5 should be applied to each type of
refrigerant used. Calculating emissions with
the Material Balance Method requires the
following steps for each type of refrigerant:

Step 1: Calculate the change in inventory.
   Subtract the inventory at the end of the
   reporting period from the inventory at the
   beginning of the reporting period to calcu-
   late the change in inventory. The inventory
   of refrigerants is defined as the total refrig-
   erant stored on site in cylinders  or other
   storage. This does not include refrigerants
   contained within equipment.

Step 2: Determine purchases and other acqui-
   sitions. Purchases and other acquisitions
   may include refrigerant purchased from
   producers/distributors, refrigerant provided
   by manufactures with or inside equipment,
   refrigerant added to equipment by contrac-
   tors or other service personnel (but not if
   that refrigerant is from Partner's inventory),
   and refrigerant returned after off-site
   recycling or reclamation.

Step 3: Determine sales/disbursements.
   Sales/disbursements may include sales of
   refrigerant in containers or left in equip-
   ment that is sold, refrigerant returned to
   refrigerant suppliers, and refrigerant sent
   off-site for recycling, reclamation, or
   destruction.

Step 4: Calculate the change in capacity. The
   change in capacity is the net change to the
   total equipment volume  for a given refriger-
   ant during the reporting period. Note that
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SECTION  2
Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use —  Guidance
          "total capacity" refers to the full and proper
          charge of the equipment rather than the
          actual charge, which may reflect leakage.
          This term accounts for the fact that if new
          equipment is purchased, the refrigerant that
          is used to charge that new equipment
          should not be reflected in a Partner's inven-
          tory. Total capacity also accounts for
          refrigerant that has leaked from equipment
          over its lifetime, or the difference between
          the full charge and the amount recovered
          from retired equipment. If the  beginning and
          ending total capacity values are not known,
          this factor can be calculated based on
          known changes in equipment.  The total full
          charge of new equipment (including equip-
          ment retrofitted to use the refrigerant in
          question) minus the full charge of equip-
          ment that is retired or sold (including full
          charge of refrigerant in question from
          equipment that is retrofit to use a different
          refrigerant) also provides the change in
          total capacity.

       Step 5: Calculate emissions. Once the previous
          four steps have been completed, GHG emis-
          sions may be quantified using  Equation 5.

       As mentioned, this approach should be done
       for each type of refrigerant and refrigerant
       blend used. Section 4.2 describes in more
       detail the type of data that is used in determin-
       ing emissions.
                        2.3.  Simplified
                        Material  Balance
                        Method
                        The Simplified Material Balance Method is a
                        simplified version of the Material Balance
                        Method described above. In the simplified
                        method there are less flows of refrigerant to
                        consider. This method requires information on
                        the quantity of refrigerant used to fill any new
                        equipment installed during the reporting peri-
                        od, the quantity of refrigerant used to service
                        equipment and the quantity of refrigerant
                        recovered from any equipment retired during
                        the reporting period. It also requires informa-
                        tion on the total full capacity of installed and
                        retired equipment. This method can be summa-
                        rized by Equation 6.

                            Equation 6: Estimating
                          Refrigerant Emissions with
                            the  Simplified  Material
                                 Balance Method
                        Emissions = PN - CN + Ps + CD - RD
                        where:
                        PN =    purchases of refrigerant  used to charge
                               new equipment (omitted if the equip-
                               ment has been pre-charged by the
                               manufacturer)

                        CN =    total full capacity of the new equip-
                               ment (omitted if the equipment has
                               been pre-charged by the manufacturer)
                        Ps  =    quantity of refrigerant used to service
                               equipment
                        CD =    total full capacity of retiring equipment
                        RD =    refrigerant recovered from retiring
                               equipment
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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
                                                                              SECTION
  The above equations should be applied to each
  type of refrigerant used. Calculating emissions
  with the Simplified Material Balance Method
  requires the following steps for each type of
  refrigerant:

  Step 1: Calculate installation emissions. This
    step is only necessary if the reporting entity
    installed any new equipment during the
    reporting period that was not pre-charged
    by the equipment supplier. Emissions are
    calculated by taking the difference between
    the amount of refrigerant used to charge the
    equipment and the total capacity of the
    equipment. The difference is assumed to be
    released to the environment.

  Step 2: Determine equipment servicing emis-
    sions. Equipment servicing emissions result
    from the refrigerant that is used to service
    operating equipment. It is assumed that the
    servicing refrigerant is  replacing the same
    amount of refrigerant that was lost to the
    environment.
Step 3: Calculate disposal emissions. This step
   is only necessary if the Partner disposed of
   equipment during the reporting period.
   Emissions are calculated by taking the dif-
   ference between the total capacity of the
   equipment disposed and the amount of
   refrigerant recovered. The difference is
   assumed to be released to the environment.

Step 4: Calculate emissions. Emissions are
   calculated by summing the results of the
   first three steps.

This approach is used for each type of refriger-
ant and refrigerant blend, Section 4.3 describes
in more detail the type of data that is used in
determining emissions.
                               CLIMATE LEADERS GHG  INVENTORY  PROTOCOL

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SECTION  3
Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
        Choice  of  Method
              The Detailed Material Balance Method
              is recommended for Partners who
              maintain their own refrigeration/air
        conditioning equipment. This method requires
        data from refrigerant inventories, purchase and
        service records, and the full and proper
        charges of equipment. It includes emissions
        from equipment operation, servicing, and dis-
        posal.

        The Simplified Material  Balance Method is rec-
        ommended for Partners who have contractors
        service their refrigeration/air conditioning
        equipment. This method tracks emissions from
        equipment operation, servicing, and disposal.
        The method requires data on the quantity of
        refrigerant used to fill new equipment during
        installation, the quantity of refrigerant used to
                        service equipment, the quantity of refrigerant
                        recovered from retiring equipment, and the
                        full and proper charges of new and retiring
                        equipment. If notified in advance of the need
                        for this information, the contractor should be
                        able to provide it.

                        It is recommended that the Screening Method
                        be used only as a screening tool because the
                        emissions factors used in the approach are
                        highly uncertain. Emission factors vary
                        between individual pieces of equipment and
                        over time. Even if the amount of refrigerant
                        added to a piece of equipment has been
                        tracked carefully, permitting the previous leak
                        rate of that equipment to be established, that
                        leak rate can change after a leak is repaired or
                        as the equipment ages.
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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  — Guidance
                                                                       SECTION  4
  Choice  of  Activity  Data  and
  Emission  Factors
        Required data for all emission estima-
        tion methods can come from inventory
        records, purchase records, repair
 reports, service records, and disposal records.
 Although refrigerant mixtures are used in many
 different applications, care should be taken
 to account for either the mixtures (such as R-
 507A) or the individual HFCs (such as HFC-143
 and HFC-125). It is recommended to track
 usage in the same manner as records are main-
 tained, generally on a refrigerant mixture basis,
 unless mixing of refrigerants is an activity
 performed by the Partner.

 4.1. Screening
 Method

 The Screening Method requires Partners to
 determine the following information:

 • Type of Equipment

 • Number of Units

 • Refrigerant Used

 • Total Refrigerant Charge for the Equipment
    (Ib.)

 • Assembly Emission Factor (%)

 • Annual Leakage Rate (%)

 • Percent of Capacity Remaining at Disposal (%)

 • Recovery (%)

 The Screening Method is based on the Tier 2
 approach from the IPCC Good Practice
 Guidance. The IPCC guidance also includes a
table of emission factors for the different phas-
es of refrigeration/air condition equipment's
life by equipment type. The IPCC table
provides ranges of values for the different
emission factors. However, since this method
is intended as a screening approach under
Climate Leaders it is recommended that the
worst case scenario of the ranges be used.
For emission factors use a high range of factors
and for recovery percents use a low range of
the values provided by IPCC. These values are
provided in Table 2.

The ranges in capacity are provided for refer-
ence. Partners should use the actual capacity
of their equipment. The IPCC good practice
guidance does not provide estimates for the
percent of capacity remaining at disposal (with
the exception of mobile air conditioning units),
therefore, a conservative factor of 100%  should
be used.

4.2.  Material  Balance
Method
The recommended approach for refrigeration/
air conditioning equipment users who maintain
their own equipment is to estimate emissions
based on the Material Balance Method. This
method requires data that should be available
from purchase and service records. The
Material Balance Method requires Partners to
collect the following data:

• Refrigerant inventory (in storage, not
  equipment) at beginning of year

• Refrigerant inventory (in storage, not
  equipment) at end of year
                            CLIMATE LEADERS  GHG  INVENTORY PROTOCOL

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       SECTION  4
                             Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —   Guidance
Table 2: Default Emission Factors for Refrigeration/
Air Conditioning Equipment
Type
of
Equipment
Domestic Refrigeration
Stand-alone Commercial
Capacity
(kg)
0.05-0.5
0.2-6
Installation
Emission
Factor
k
(% of capacity) (
1
3
Operating
Emissions
X
% of capacity/yr.)
0.5
10
Refrigerant
Remaining at
Disposal
y
(% of capacity) (
100
100
Recovery
Efficiency
z
% of remaining)
70
70
               Applications

               Medium & Large            50-2,000         3
               Commercial Refrigeration

               Transport Refrigeration        3-8            1

               Industrial Refrigeration      10-10,000         3
               including Food Processing
               and Cold Storage

               Chillers                   10-2,000         1

               Residential and Commercial   0.5-100          1
               A/C including Heat Pumps

               Mobile Air Conditioning      0.8-cars         0.5
                                      1.2-light trucks
                                                               30


                                                               50

                                                               25



                                                               15

                                                               5


                                                               20
100


100

100



100

100


40
80


70

80



80

70
                  Refrigerant purchased from producers or
                  distributors in bulk

                  Refrigerant provided by manufacturers with
                  or inside of equipment

                  Refrigerant added to equipment by
                  contractors

                  Refrigerant returned after off-site recycling
                  or reclamation

                  Sales of bulk refrigerant to other entities
                                                          Refrigerant left in equipment that is sold to
                                                          other entities

                                                          Refrigerant returned to suppliers

                                                          Refrigerant sent off-site for recycling or
                                                          reclamation

                                                          Refrigerant sent off-site for destruction

                                                          Refrigerant capacity at beginning of year
                                                          (in equipment, not storage)

                                                          Refrigerant capacity at end of year
                                                          (in equipment, not storage)
i o
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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  —  Guidance
                                                                               SECTION   4
  If beginning and ending capacity values are not
  known then the following information can be
  used:

  • Total full capacity of new equipment using
    this refrigerant

  • Total full capacity of equipment that is
    retrofitted to use this refrigerant

  • Total full capacity of retiring or sold equip-
    ment that used this refrigerant

  • Total full capacity of equipment that is
    retrofitted away from this refrigerant to a
    different refrigerant
  Note: "Total full capacity" refers to the full and proper capacity
  of the equipment rather than to the actual charge, which may
  reflect leakage.
  4.3. Simplified
  Material  Balance
  Method
  The Simplified Material Balance Method is the
  recommended approach for equipment users
  who have contractors service their equipment.
  If notified in advance of the need for this infor-
  mation, the contractor should be able to
  provide it. This method requires Partners to
  collect the following data:
  • Refrigerant used to fill new equipment
  • Refrigerant used to fill equipment retrofit-
    ted to use this refrigerant
  • Total full capacity of new equipment using
    this refrigerant
•  Total full capacity of equipment that is
   retrofitted to use this refrigerant

•  Refrigerant used to service equipment

•  Total full capacity of retiring equipment

•  Total full capacity of equipment that is
   retrofitted away from this refrigerant to a
   different refrigerant

•  Refrigerant recovered from retiring
   equipment

•  Refrigerant recovered from equipment that
   is retrofitted away from this refrigerant to a
   different refrigerant
Note: "Total full capacity" refers to the full and proper capacity
of the equipment rather than to the actual charge, which may
reflect leakage.
                             CLIMATE LEADERS  GHG  INVENTORY  PROTOCOL
                                                       1 1

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      SECTION
                           Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use  — Guidance
              Completeness
                 In order for a Partner's GHG corporate
                 inventory to be complete it must include all
                 emission sources within the company's cho-
              sen inventory boundaries. See Chapter 3 of the
              Climate Leaders Design Principles for detailed
              guidance on setting organizational boundaries
              and Chapter 4 of the Climate Leaders Design
              Principles for detailed guidance on setting oper-
              ational boundaries of the corporate inventory.

              On an organizational level the inventory should
              include emissions from all applicable facilities
              or fleets of vehicles. Completeness of corporate
              wide emissions can be checked by comparing
              the list of sources included in the GHG emis-
              sions inventory with those included in other
              emission's inventories/environmental reporting,
              financial reporting, etc.

              At the operational level, a Partner should
              include all GHG emissions from the sources
              included in their corporate inventory. Possible
              GHG emission sources are stationary fuel com-
              bustion, combustion of fuels in mobile sources,
              purchases of electricity, HFC emissions from air
              conditioning equipment and process or fugitive
              related emissions. Partners should refer to this
              guidance document for calculating HFC emis-
              sions from air conditioning or refrigeration
              equipment use and to the Climate Leaders Core
              Guidance documents for calculating emissions
              from other sources.
                                                   When calculating HFC emissions from air condi-
                                                   tioning or refrigeration equipment use Partners
                                                   should include all applicable sources of refrig-
                                                   erant emissions. If a third party is used for any
                                                   component of refrigerant tracking, the third
                                                   party should provide any necessary informa-
                                                   tion. For the Screening Method, all pieces of
                                                   equipment of all different types need to be
                                                   accounted for. For the Mass Balance Methods,
                                                   all activities and different types of refrigerants
                                                   or mixtures should be tracked.

                                                   As described in Chapter 1 of the Climate
                                                   Leaders Design Principles, there is no materiality
                                                   threshold set for reporting emissions. The
                                                   materiality of a source can only be established
                                                   after it has been assessed. This does not neces-
                                                   sarily require a rigorous quantification of all
                                                   sources, but at a minimum, an estimate based
                                                   on available data should be developed for all
                                                   sources.

                                                   The inventory should also accurately reflect
                                                   the timeframe of the report. In the case of
                                                   Climate Leaders, the emissions inventory is
                                                   reported annually and should represent a full
                                                   year of emissions data.
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Refrigeration/AC Equipment  Use  — Guidance
                                                                        SECTION
  Uncertainty  Assessment
        There is uncertainty associated with all
        methods of calculating GHG emissions.
        As outlined in Chapter 7 of the Climate
 Leaders Design Principles, Climate Leaders does
 not recommend Partners quantify uncertainty
 as +/- % of emissions estimates or in terms of
 data quality indicators. The effort spent to
 perform such analysis is better spent pursuing
 high quality inventory data.

 It is recommended that Partners attempt to
 identify the areas of uncertainty in their emis-
 sions estimates and make an attempt to use
 the most  accurate data possible. As men-
 tioned, the emission factor approach to
 estimating emissions  is highly uncertain.
 Factors vary between individual pieces of
equipment and over time. Even if the amount
of refrigerant added to a particular piece of
equipment has been tracked carefully, permit-
ting the previous leak rate of that equipment to
be established, that leak rate can change after
the leak is repaired or as the equipment ages.

The major uncertainty introduced in the mate-
rial balance approaches occurs with recently
installed equipment. Equipment can leak for
two or more years before needing a recharge,
so emissions over this period are not detected
until after they occur. Despite this minor draw-
back, the material balance approaches provide
a highly accurate estimate of emissions from
this sector.
                           CLIMATE  LEADERS GHG INVENTORY PROTOCOL
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      SECTION
                        Refrigeration/AC  Equipment Use —  Guidance
             Reporting  and   Documentation
             p
           artners are required to complete the     These documentation sources should be col-
           Climate Leaders Reporting Requirements   lected to ensure the accuracy and transparency
           and report annual corporate level emis-   of the related emissions data, and should also
             sions. In order to ensure that estimates are
             transparent and verifiable, the documentation
             sources listed in Table 3 should be maintained.
                                              be reported in the Partner's Inventory
                                              Management Plan (IMP).
             Data
                        Table 3: Documentation Sources
                                         Documentation Source
             Inventory at Beginning and End of Year

             Purchases


             Nameplate Capacity of Equipment



             Amounts Charged to Equipment

             Amounts Recovered from Equipment
                                         Stock Inventory documentation

                                         Purchase receipts; delivery receipts; contract
                                         purchase or firm purchase records

                                         Delivery receipts of equipment; records of physical
                                         inspection of nameplates; shipping or disposal
                                         records of equipment

                                         Repair records; repair invoices; daily reports

                                         Repair records; repair invoices; daily reports;
                                         disposal records
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Refrigeration/AC  Equipment  Use —  Guidance
                                                           SECTION  8
 Inventory  Quality Assurance and
 Quality  Control (QA/QC)
       Chapter 7 of the Climate Leader Design
       Principles provides general guidelines
       for implementing a QA/QC process for
 all emission estimates. For the use of refrigera-
 tion and AC equipment the following items
 must be addressed:

 • Care should be taken that releases are not
   double-counted (e.g., from reporting both
   refrigerant blend and individual blend com-
   ponent use).
Verify that your inventory is complete.
Because the GWPs of HFCs and PFCs are so
large, failure to account for even relatively
small releases of HFCs and PFCs can make a
big difference when the releases are con-
verted to a C02-equivalent basis. Also,
tracking HFC and PFC separately is impor-
tant, because of the differing GWPs.
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SEPA
     United States
     Environmental Protection
     Agency

     Office of Air and Radiation (6202J)
     EPA430-K-03-004
     October 2004
     www.epa.gov/climateleaders

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