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On June 15th and 16th, 2002, the Clean Air Foundation pilot tested Keep Cool, Canada's first room air conditioner (RAC) exchange campaign. The Keep Cool program's goal was to retire 100 old and inefficient room air conditioners by offering purchase rebates towards new ENERGY STAR® qualified models. ENERGY STAR® qualified RACs require less energy for the same cooling output, and therefore generate less greenhouse gas emissions on a per unit basis.
Wind and rain aside, Keep Cool successfully collected 107 old room air conditioner units on the 15th and 16th of June, 2002. Of the 107 old units brought in for recycling, 71 participants used the rebate gift cards to purchase new ENERGY STAR® qualified models. The post-program analysis revealed that Keep Cool reduced 14.57 tonnes of CO2, 22.92 Kg of NO, and 104.76 Kg CO2 emissions related to energy savings. Over and above the reduction of emissions related to electricity production, the Keep Cool program captured 45.27 Kg of HCFC. HCFC is an ozone depleting substance as well as a powerful greenhouse gas, estimated 1700 times more potent than CO2. The Keep Cool recycling program employed a certified coolant technician to capture the coolants and dispose or recycle them in the most environmentally sound way.
The program partners included the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, The Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, Future Shop, and Panasonic. |
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