We are relocating into a 2/3 of a floor space (20,000sf approx.) of a multi-story commercial office building, located in Ohio. This is a newer building that has existing water source heat pumps already purchased and installed by the building owner prior to the fit-out of our office space. Our intent is to keep these heat pumps in their current locations and connect new ductwork to the units. These heat pump units use R-22 refrigerant for cooling which is an HCFC based refrigerant. According to the prerequisite; Zero use of CFC-based refrigerants in new tenant HVAC&R systems when within scope of work. By the definition listed in the guidelines for HCFs it states that they "are refrigerants that cause significantly less depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer compared to CFCs." It is our understanding that since HCFCs are better than CFCs and that the existing heat pumps do not contain CFCs and that they have been installed by the owner and do not fall within the scope of our tenant fit-out, that we will meet this prerequisite.
The applicant is seeking confirmation that HCFCs do not qualify as CFCs and thus do not fall under the scope of the prerequisite. HCFCs do not count as CFC-based refrigerants with respect to this prerequisite. It should be noted that, while HCFCs cause significantly less depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer compared to CFCs, they still have ozone-depleting and global-warming potential. Applicable Internationally.