AHR Trending Topic
Refrigerants, A2Ls and Regulations

“2026 will test the industry’s ability to adapt as much as it will reward those who’ve learned from the past two years. The refrigerant shortages of 2025 exposed the cost of weak forecasting and breakdowns in communication across the supply chain, but they also sharpened the industry’s awareness of what coordinated planning requires. The way distributors manage pricing impacts from tariffs will reveal — and strengthen — their value as partners to their customers. It will also be essential that we continue stay the course set by the AIM Act, even as uncertainty surrounding the Technology Transition Rule creates some unease. HARDI remains focused on ensuring distributors have the insight and tools to meet these challenges head-on.”

— Talbot Gee, HARDI

“Completing the global transition toward next-generation refrigerants remains high on our industry’s priority list. Our continued efforts to expand our global reach – we recently opened our 6th global office, in Singapore – will help policymakers there and in many other parts of the world use our standards and certification programs as paths to achieve sustainability goals. Other pressing issues include continued state efforts to regulate PFAS and plastics and packaging, and expand extended producer responsibility efforts.”

— Steve Yurek, AHRI

“Last year’s concerns for acceptance of new products brought forth by the refrigerant transition were proven to have been overstated. Prompt market acceptance of A2L products has created other supply side concerns for equipment and refrigerant availability, prompting more repair of existing systems than is typical for most contractors.”

— Cindy Sheridan, PHCC