During the meeting, council members provided briefings on their country or region's activity to address responsible refrigerant use, energy efficiency, technician training, and responsible equipment management. In addition, the council discussed updates to its global statistics program and approved the following policy statements highlighting the industry's voluntary efforts:
The council advanced four principles as a comprehensive approach to globally responsible refrigerants use, including the use of the Responsible Use Guide for Minimizing Fluorocarbon Emissions in Manufacturing Facilities; technician training guidelines; recycle/reclaim/destroy programs; and political advocacy.
The council recommended nine guidelines to encourage global standards for technician excellence, based on the unique circumstances for each country or region. These guidelines include developing and updating curriculum guides, encouraging technicians to develop fundamental knowledge in a number of subjects, promoting appropriate workplace behaviors, and supporting accreditation standards and third party certification.
In some ICARMA countries, as much as 85 percent of HVACR equipment is recycled. The council endorsed continued voluntary equipment recycling, including consideration of decommissioning during the design phase, encouraging installers to adopt responsible equipment management guidelines, informing governments regarding industry's recycling efforts, and raising public awareness.
ICARMA's policy statements, as well as the Responsible Use Guide for Manufacturing Facilities, can be found on the ICARMA Website at www.icarma.org.
Publication date: 10/02/2006
