Taking care of your working environment
EU Gas Ban Forces Local Air-Con Overhaul
A leading local facilities management company is training extra engineers to meet demand brought about by EU environmental regulations.
Amalgamated Facilities Management is understood to be the only Channel Island air conditioning firm offering formal industry training to its staff before a Europe-wide ban on a damaging chemical comes into effect (see note 1). Darren Etasse, Commercial Director of Amalgamated Facilities Management (see note 2), explained: ‘The impending ban on R22 refrigerant gases found in certain commercial and domestic air conditioning systems has caused a dramatic increase in demand for air conditioning engineers’. He added that AFM has invested in training its own specialists, to meet the needs of the Channel Island market.
Mr Etasse said that the company had teamed up with Grimsby College and Highland College in Jersey in order to provide the right level of training, which is not available locally. Six AFM engineers (see note 3) have now passed the level 2 City & Guilds Commercial Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems course, with what Mr Etasse described as ‘flying colours’
Mr Etasse explained the implications of the EU ruling for local organisations: ‘In general terms, if you have had air conditioning systems installed in your building between 1960 and 2004, then the refrigerant ban, will have some effect on your business. The 1st phase of the ban comes into effect from Jan 2010 and 2nd and final phase of the ban is planned for 2015 but is expected to be bought forward to 2012’.
He predicted that maintenance costs and system faults will increase sharply as chemicals and spare parts for old systems will be difficult to source: ‘All air conditioning manufacturers in Europe, ceased manufacturing R22 systems in 2003. There’s a real incentive to tackle this, as R22-based air conditioning will make what should be a desirable building into something of a liability when you come to sell or rent. All in all, it's wise to look for a new system as soon as possible.’
