Holiday Cheer: Ozone-Depleting Products No Longer a Big Issue

We're making our GreenSpec list and checking it twice. Crossing ozone depletion off of it feels mighty nice!

By Jennifer Atlee

With the holiday season upon us (yet no snow on the ground here in Vermont since the freak October storm that knocked out power across the Northeast) and the Durban climate deal still largely symbolic, I thought some environmental good cheer was in order.

When hairspray kills

Remember when all the hair spray brands switched to pump bottles in the '80s? It worked!

Remember the ozone hole, and all of the hair spray, propellants, refrigerants, pesticides, and more that were creating it? Well we made a global agreement in 1987--The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer --and we're actually following through on it.

Twenty-four countries signed on to the Protocol in 1987, and now almost every country in the world is phasing out these chemicals. The worst ozone-depleting substances--including CFCs--have already been phased out; now everyone has moved on to phasing out Class II ozone-depleting substances, including HCFCs. Developing countries signed on to the protocol have actually recently agreed to more rigorous phase-out of HCFCs.

Patching up

In the U.S., January 2010 marked the final phase-out of virgin HCFC-142b and HCFC-22 (except to service equipment manufactured previously)--so these are no longer used for new equipment, foam insulation, or anything else! By 2015 the same goes for all HCFCs (except they're leaving an out for use as refrigerants in equipment manufactured before January 2020). According to EPA, this corresponds to a 75% reduction in consumption and production of ODPs in 2010 and a 90% reduction by 2015. It gets even more stringent from there.

As we are often finding more and more environmental issues to track through our GreenSpec product guidance, this represents a rare reversal. The list of green attributes outlined in our article "What Makes a Product Green?" has been used by many in the green building industry. In GreenSpec, products are in or out based on these attributes. For the first time ever, we've removed something from the list--Alternatives to Ozone Depleting Substances are now so common that we don't see it as a reasonable differentiator for what products to include. I find that exciting.

Next up: global warming

The ozone hole problem is by no means a done deal. For one, it'll take a while for the ozone hole to start to repair because many ozone-depleting substances stay in the atmosphere for a very long time. Also, a lot of the standard replacements, including R-134a and R-410a refrigerants and many common blowing agents, don't deplete the ozone but are potent contributors to global climate change. The good news is that we're starting to act on that problem too: there are efforts to phase down use of HFCs and replace them with substances that don't create an ozone problem or a climate problem.

The kind of substantive but phased approach we've taken with this problem makes it clear to manufacturers what's required and enforces an even playing field, helping us transition smoothly to preferable alternatives.

A season of hope

Yes, complications abound, and there are always more caveats, but it gives me good cheer to revisit proof that we actually can cooperate internationally to address a major environmental issue at it's source– with ozone we're quietly proving it right now.