International News
DAIKIN ENVIRONMENTAL VISION 2050
IN MOTION
D
aikin Europe has completed the installation of a HVAC
prototype mentioned in its Environmental Vision 2050.
The prototype called ‘Conveni-Pack’ is an integrated
refrigeration/air conditioning/heating system for convenience
stores, using CO 2 refrigerant, at a demonstration shop at its
headquarters in Ostend, Belgium.
Daikin Europe developed the CO 2 -based Conveni-Pack
for ‘Natural HVACR 4 Life’, a sustainability-focused research
project exploring the use of CO ₂ as a natural refrigerant.
Co-funded by the European Union (EU), the project is led by
Daikin Europe in partnership with Daikin Air conditioning
Germany and Daikin AC Spain.
Daikin Europe officially launched the project in January 2020 –
though the European Commission (EC) set the parameters for the
project last year – and expects it to run for three years. The CO 2
version of the Conveni-Pack is based on an existing version that
employs R410A as the refrigerant.
Daikin Europe will test the CO 2 prototype in a simulated
convenience store, followed by demonstration and monitoring
in stores in Germany and Spain, in average and warm climates,
respectively. According to the EC, the project intends to install
and monitor the system in 20 European stores, mainly the energy
efficiency and safety performance of the equipment “to provide a
risk mitigation strategy as the basis for a large-scale application of
CO 2 as a natural refrigerant.”
The CO 2 Conveni-Pack, which comes as a preassembled
system, recovers heat from the refrigeration display cabinets
and evaporators and reuses it to heat other areas of the building
at no extra cost. Through Natural HVACR 4 Life, Daikin intends
to remove market barriers by exploring the viability (in terms of
energy and safety) of an integrated refrigeration, heating and
comfort cooling system that uses CO 2 as a natural refrigerant.
The company will raise awareness among installers, engineers,
customers and the general public on the potential benefits of
using CO 2 as a natural refrigerant in convenience stores through
exhibitions, conferences and online tools.
Daikin also plans to develop an ‘economically viable’ cassette
indoor CO 2 unit for comfort cooling and heating and may add a
cold storage test at a later stage.
To support the project, Daikin will establish CO 2 Conveni-Pack
training and training materials for installers and customers, as well
as share project insights with policymakers and standardisation
bodies to facilitate the update of safety and energy-related
standards and labels.
The Natural HVACR 4 Life project seeks to contribute to the
implementation of the EU F-gas Regulation, according to the EC.
“It intends to invite policymakers to take into consideration the
characteristics of natural refrigerants in the definition of standards
and energy labelling schemes, by providing information on tested
risk management procedures to deal with the flammability or the
toxicity of natural refrigerants.”
The project’s outcome in reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions should reach, the EC said:
• 24% after three years of operation;
• 12% after six years; and
• 6% at the end of the lifetime of the system (10 years). RACA
The Natural
HVACR 4 Life
project seeks to
contribute to the
implementation
of the EU F-gas
Regulation.
www.hvacronline.co.za
RACA Journal I March 2020
9