Refrigerant Containment

The REAL Zero refrigerant containment campaign was led by the Institute of Refrigeration and developed by a team of international experts to provide industry guidance on how to reduce leakage of HFC refrigerants.  It provided the knowledge and skills to reduce the direct environmental impact of refrigeration equipment, by reducing the emission of these refrigerant, some of which have high GWP potential. REAL Zero compliments the requirements of the F Gas Regulation for leak checking, recording of service activity and training, with supporting technical information on good practice and simplified guides to legal requirements for services engineers, contractors and end users.

REAL Zero booklets

Available to download as free PDFs for members and non members - you must log in or create to your website account to download these documents.

• Guide to good leak testing
• Illustrated guide to 13 common leaks
• Designing out leaks: design standards and practices
• Leakage matters: the service and maintenance contractor’s responsibility
• Leakage matters: the equipment owner’s responsibility

REAL Skills e-learning

This material has been adapted as an interactive e-learning programme available in European languages covering:

• Module 1: Environmental, Cost and Legal Aspects of Refrigerant Leakage - learn the principles of effective refrigerant containment and management.
• Module 2: Reducing Leakage Through Appropriate Maintenance and Service – industry best practice including leak test methods and interpreting existing data to make improvements.
• Module 3: Minimising Leakage – Good Practices for Design, Installation and Commissioning- find out about how to design, install and commission RAC systems to minimize the potential for refrigerant leakage.
• Module 4: Reducing Refrigerant Leakage through Site Specific Surveys and Advice – bring together knowledge from in the first three modules to undertake site surveys and recommend client strategies to reduce refrigeration leakage.

Register for the free e-learning here (this link redirects you to our e-learning site hosted by University College Limburg)

REAL Skills tools and Templates

Additional resources to help work with clients to measure refrigerant use, calculate the environmental and cost impact and plan a specific strategy to improve containment on their sites.

• Tools to measure the carbon impact of emissions
• Templates for site surveys and environmental impact reports are available for those who register for the e-learning above.

Case studies of successful containment strategies

• Case study 1 -Retail Emissions Savings (2009)  
• Case study 2 - Industrial Food Processing Site Emissions Savings (2009)
• Asda - Evaluation of refrigeration systems and containment systems (2013)

REAL Alternatives

The REAL Zero principles are being extended to raise awareness of the safe, reliable and efficient use of low GWP alternative refrigerants (carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrocarbon and new low flammables HFOs and R32).  A free e-learning programme is also open and is currently being redeveloped as an European-wide practical training programme called REAL Alternatives 4 LIFE, co-funded by the EU.

See the dedicated website at www.realalternatives.eu for more information about this exciting new development.