Johnson Controls commits to R-454B as future environmentally sustainable refrigerant solution in North America

MILWAUKEE, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, announced that R-454B will serve as the primary low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerant in the company's ducted residential and commercial unitary products as well as air-cooled scroll chillers in North America and specific international markets where codes are in alignment. This transition away from the use of high-GWP refrigerants, such as R-410A, reinforces the company's commitment to addressing climate change and lowering customers' emissions for a healthier, more sustainable planet.

"Sustainability is at the heart of our business and fundamental to everything we do," said Katie McGinty, vice president and chief sustainability, government and regulatory affairs officer, Johnson Controls. "Today's announcement reinforces our continued commitment to developing best-in-class solutions that help transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. This refrigerant transition means that we will exceed key regulatory requirements and also take a significant step toward reaching one of our ambitious sustainability benchmarks: helping our customers achieve a 16 percent reduction in emissions by 2030."

The selection of R-454B, known commercially as Opteon™ XL41™ and manufactured by The Chemours Company, follows years of research and testing by Johnson Controls into next-generation refrigerants that maximize environmental benefits while meeting critical performance, safety and market criteria. R-454B has the lowest EPA SNAP1 approved GWP for unitary applications of all ASHRAE classified A2L (low-toxicity, mild flammability) refrigerants on the market today, coming in at 466. This is one-fifth the GWP of R-410A, far lower than the pending 750 GWP limits being proposed and offering the longest-term viability. In addition, the refrigerant can reduce the energy use of HVAC systems and improve system efficiency.

"We are excited to collaborate with Johnson Controls and help deliver safe and environmentally sustainable solutions to the HVAC industry that support an effective transition to lower GWP refrigerants," said Alisha Bellezza, president of Thermal & Specialized Solutions at Chemours. "Chemours is dedicated to providing great value to our customers as they navigate through the HFC phase-down by offering refrigerant technologies with a lower GWP and improved energy efficiency, such as Opteon™ XL41."

With a history of making buildings more sustainable for 135 years, Johnson Controls is a worldwide leader in the effort to decarbonize buildings. This includes developing solutions to facilitate the transition to electric-based heating and the development of OpenBlue, a suite of connected solutions that help drive building system efficiencies. Embracing this refrigerant transition is one of many steps to help customers reduce their emissions and another positive step in supporting healthy people, healthy places and a healthy planet.

The transition to R-454B will apply only to the sale of new air-cooled scroll chillers by the pending manufacturing cutoff date of January 1, 2024, and residential and commercial unitary products by the pending manufacturing cutoff date of January 1, 2025, for the following brands: Johnson Controls, YORK®, Luxaire®, Coleman®, Champion®, Fraser-Johnston®, TempMaster®, Evcon™, Guardian® and Quantech®. Existing R-410A equipment manufactured prior to the manufacturing cutoff dates can be sold, installed and serviced indefinitely.

About Johnson Controls

At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet. 

With a history of more than 135 years of innovation, Johnson Controls delivers the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through its comprehensive digital offering, OpenBlue. With a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world's largest portfolio of building technology, software as well as service solutions with some of the most trusted names in the industry. For more information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com or follow us @johnsoncontrols on Twitter.

Johnson Controls International plc Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Johnson Controls International plc has made statements in this communication that are forward-looking and therefore are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are, or could be, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this communication, statements regarding Johnson Controls' environmental sustainability commitments are forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," "forecast," "project" or "plan" and terms of similar meaning are also generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Johnson Controls cautions that these statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond Johnson Controls' control, that could cause Johnson Controls' actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks related to: Johnson Controls' ability to manage general economic, business, capital market and geopolitical conditions, including the impacts of natural disasters, pandemics and outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; the strength of the U.S. or other economies; changes or uncertainty in laws, regulations, rates, policies or interpretations that impact Johnson Controls' business operations or tax status; the ability to develop or acquire new products and technologies that achieve market acceptance; changes to laws or policies governing foreign trade, including increased tariffs or trade restrictions; maintaining the capacity, reliability and security of our enterprise and product information technology infrastructure; the risk of infringement or expiration of intellectual property rights; any delay or inability of Johnson Controls to realize the expected benefits and synergies of recent portfolio transactions such as its merger with Tyco and the disposition of the Power Solutions business;  the outcome of litigation and governmental proceedings; the ability to hire and retain key senior management; the tax treatment of recent portfolio transactions; significant transaction costs and/or unknown liabilities associated with such transactions; the availability of raw materials and component products; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; work stoppages, union negotiations, labor disputes and other matters associated with the labor force; the cancellation of or changes to commercial arrangements.  A detailed discussion of risks related to Johnson Controls' business is included in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Johnson Controls' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 2020 fiscal year filed with the SEC on November 16, 2020, which is available at www.sec.gov and www.johnsoncontrols.com under the "Investors" tab. Shareholders, potential investors and others should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements and should not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date of this document, unless otherwise specified, and, except as required by law, Johnson Controls assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update such statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this communication.

1 https://www.epa.gov/snap/fact-sheet-proposed-rule-23-protection-stratospheric-ozone-listing-substitutes-under

SOURCE Johnson Controls International plc