Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub
ERC Overview
EARTH is founded on four ERC pillars: convergent research, impact and belonging, engineering workforce development, and innovation ecosystem, which will impact the engineering and scientific communities, the HVACR industry, and society.

The Challenge
Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) are essential to the quality of life for all humans. HVACR systems are widespread throughout society, enabling transportation and preservation of fresh foods, storage of medicines, and cooling of buildings. However, most refrigerants used today are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have high global-warming potential (GWP), with 2000-4000 times the impact of CO2. Combined with high leak rates (direct effect — 50-90% of refrigerants leak into the atmosphere) and high energy consumption (indirect effect — 20-40% of U.S. residential and commercial building electricity usage comes from HVACR), HFCs account for 7.8% of total greenhouse-gas emissions. In response, the U.S. and 170 other countries are phasing down HFCs in accordance with the Kigali agreement, F-gas regulations, and American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, creating a tremendous societal challenge to responsibly and sustainably replace billions of kilograms of refrigerants.

To address this challenge, a multi-institution, multi-disciplinary team put together a new NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC): Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH), to create a “sustainable refrigerant lifecycle” to address technical, environmental, and societal challenges facing the HVACR industry.
Thrusts

Lower Emissions

Reduce GWP

Higher Energy Efficiency
Our Policy and Impact
- Current refrigerants (Hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs) will be phased out according to the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act passed by Congress and signed by the president in Dec, 2020 due to high global warming potential (GWP)
- Montreal Protocol, Kigali agreement and European F-gas regulations requiring similar phaseout of HFCs in 170 countries
- Phase out of HFCs over next two decades is estimated to create 150,000 new jobs, increase manufacturing by $39 Billion in the U.S., and reduce global temperature rising by 0.5 ºC
- Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (RAC) accounts for 20% of U.S. energy consumption
- RAC industry is strategic to U.S. national interests – maintain export market

EARTH News

Way cool: KU leads planet-protecting research on refrigerants
A new federally funded center, directed by School of Engineering professor Mark Shiflett, seeks to boost the Kansas economy while driving a heating and cooling revolution. As kickoff celebrations go, the launch of a research center dedicated to refrigerant technology might seem anything but cool. Refrigerants, the chemical compounds that...

From Microsoft to Walmart, new KU research center on refrigerants is attracting strong interest from businesses

Chancellor Girod visits with Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
