Calculating carbon emissions is a complex process. The different types of emissions need to be identified and collected company wide. From this information, the amount of each type of gas released into the environment needs to be calculated. In addition, tracking methods need to show the daily use of refrigerant gas. The end result will show the global warming potential for each facility with a refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) system or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

Refrigerant systems use high levels of greenhouse gases, so the EPA established the Climate Registry Protocol for calculating carbon emissions on a regular basis. The international equivalent of this requirement is outlined in the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol. The main purpose for calculating carbon emissions is to begin reducing the damaging effects that refrigerant gas has on the environment.

Commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems operate on refrigerant gas, which is made up of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). When broken down, these substances contain carbon, chlorine, fluorine and hydrogen.

Refrigerant gases are made up of certain chemical compounds that cause them to be ozone depleting substances. By calculating carbon emissions, government environmental agencies will be able to better understand the situation. Companies who fail to report their carbon emissions will be issued a substantial fine.

Information about reducing greenhouse gases by calculating carbon emissions is contained in EPA, ISO, World Resource Institute and Climate Registry protocols. In short, the monitoring, tracking, and reporting requirements mandate that all locations where refrigerants are being used or serviced must collect, organize, and calculate as part of an enterprise's carbon emissions.

Some volume of carbon is released into the environment by any company with a refrigerant system. Trying to determine how much carbon is emitted is an intricate process. Calculating carbon emissions begins by collecting data across the entire company and all its locations and identifying the gases. From there, a determination on how much of each gas is released must be made. Then various reports that include tracking methods need to be completed and submitted.

Refrigerant management programs can best handle the tedious process of calculating carbon emissions. Across a distributed organization or one with more than a couple of locations and a few HVAC-R systems, a web-based or database driven refrigerant management solution is more effective and less prone to error as are paper log books. A refrigerant management program that includes a solution for refrigerant gas tracking and an automated way to calculate carbon emissions is important. Solutions like this make is easier to handle calculating carbon emissions for all AC/HVAC systems operated by a company.

Many research studies and much scientific debate lead international agencies the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mandate that organizations to monitor, track, and calculate carbon emission for annual reports. Most importantly is to identify the major sources of greenhouse gases. Equally important is to establish a tracking mechanism for determining how much harmful gases are released at any given time. The information will be used to improve air quality with measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

By calculating carbon emissions, companies will be able to recognize the extent of their carbon footprint. For companies with multiple locations using refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, the task becomes even more critical.

But there is help to address this challenging issue. Emerging software provided by clean-tech development firms track carbon dioxide gas emissions across all sites so companies can do their part to ensure a healthy environment for years to come.