John Collins Announces Progress on CO2 Safety Standard

On March 1, the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) moved its new CO₂ safety standard to public review. Titled the “Safety Standard for Closed-Circuit Carbon Dioxide Refrigeration Systems,” the standard will be open for public review until April 15. John Collins, Industrial Sales Manager for Zero Zone, Inc. and chairman of the IIAR CO₂ Task Group, presented the new standard at a panel and at the closing forum for the 2019 IIAR Natural Refrigeration Conference & Expo.

CO₂ continues to gain momentum across the refrigeration industry with thousands of CO₂ systems operating worldwide. However, the industry lacks a definitive, detailed standard to guide engineers and contractors. As a standards developer accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), IIAR is equipped and positioned to fill this need for natural refrigerants. Many members of the CO₂ Task Group have contributed to other safety standards. They also partnered with the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) as they branch into regulations for commercial refrigeration.

The CO₂ Task Group and the NASRC have developed the standard to cover the full life cycle of a CO₂ refrigeration system, including design, installation, startup, inspection, testing, and maintenance. The standard establishes minimum requirements for a safe system, defining baseline requirements for the proper application of CO₂ refrigeration.

After April 15, the CO₂ Task Group will sort through the public comments, respond to them, and revise the standard as necessary. Speaking from experience with the process, Collins says it is common to have additional public reviews, whether of the whole safety standard or excerpts of it. After that, the standard will be evaluated, voted on, and submitted for approval. After approval, it will be published as an ANSI standard, which will become a resource for commercial and industrial CO₂ systems.

Collins has served as the chairman of the IIAR CO₂ Task Group since the project formally began in 2016. He has also served on the IIAR CO₂ committee, the standards committee, and as a board member.

Collins describes the work as “gratifying” because they can see the interest across the industry. “Now is an exciting time for CO₂ refrigeration. New and old contractors want to gain experience with working on CO₂ systems,” he explained. This CO₂ safety standard will provide the necessary guidance.