SAE International Releases Test Results of the Low GWP Refrigerant for Mobile Air-Conditioning

WARRENDALE, Pennsylvania, November 10 - A Cooperative Research Program conducted through SAE International to
investigate the safety and environmental performance of a new refrigerant for
mobile air conditioning systems, announced today the successful completion of
its research. Based on these results, the sponsors of the SAE CRP1234 have
concluded that HFO-1234yf can be used as the global replacement refrigerant
in future mobile air conditioning systems. From the evaluation and test
results it has been concluded that HFO-1234yf can be safely accommodated
through established industry standards and practices for vehicle design,
engineering, manufacturing, and service.

The report is the third SAE report to evaluate the new refrigerant. The
recent two-year long global research program was to determine the safety and
environmental characteristics of HFO-1234yf. These investigations have
confirmed that HFO-1234yf is an environmentally friendly refrigerant suitable
for use in direct expansion Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) systems. HFO-1234yf
is a non Ozone Depleting Substance with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of
4. In comparison, the current refrigerant, R-134a, has a GWP of 1430.

As part of the studies the automotive industry conducted evaluations on a
variety of vehicle applications. Additional testing and research was
conducted at internationally recognized laboratories to verify worldwide
acceptance for one common global replacement refrigerant. The vehicle OEMs
evaluated the investigations conducted by Gradient LLC (USA), Exponent
Engineering and Scientific Consulting (USA), Creative Thermal Solutions [CTS]
(USA), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
[INERIS] (France), - Institut fur Luft und Kaltetechnik - Dresden [ILK-
Dresden] (Germany), TNO (The Netherlands), Underwriters Laboratories (USA),
WIL Research Laboratories (USA), Det Norske Veritas (Norway/Japan), Hamner
Institutes for Health Sciences (USA) and Hughes Associates Inc. in USA.

The results from the CRP1234 programs that investigated the new
refrigerant for use in mobile air conditioning systems (cars and light
trucks) are available on-line at
www.sae.org/standardsdev/tsb/cooperative/crp1234-3.pdf.

Extensive testing supported by multimillion dollar (USA) funding and
in-kind support for SAE CRP1234 projects has been provided by 15 vehicle OEMs
(from China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Sweden, UK, and
USA) and 18 Tier one suppliers (from Asia, Europe, and USA).

SAE International is a global association of more than 121,000 engineers
and related technical experts in the automotive, aerospace and
commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are
life-long learning and standards development. SAE International's charitable
arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World in
Motion(R) and the Collegiate Design Series.

- www.sae.org -

Contact: Shawn Andreassi, SAE International, via pr@sae.org or call
+1-724-772-8522.

Shawn Andreassi of SAE International, +1-724-772-8522, pr at sae.org