Paving the way in war on CFCs - chlorofluorocarbons

Real Estate Weekly, August 19, 1992 by John T. Griffin

As managers of more than 25 million square feet of office space throughout the United States, we feel it is our responsibility to take a leadership position in improving environmental conditions locally, nationally, and globally.

The latest federal clean air requirement involving office building refrigerants, which went into effect on July 1, has provided us with an opportunity to do just that.

The new policy on chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) is quite simple. From now on, when an office building air conditioning unit is repaired, the refrigerant gases must be recaptured for recycling.

To insure total compliance, earlier this year we developed, in a joint effort with the law firm of LePatner Block Pawa & Rivelis, the following guidelines for all outside contractors working at Edward S. Gordon buildings. They must: 1. Comply with Clean Air Act of 1990 prohibiting the intentional venting of refrigerants 2. Perform leak test quarterly using an electronic leak detector and promptly repair any refrigerant leaks 3. Recover refrigerants when servicing equipment and use approved refrigerant storage devices 4. Incorporate a refrigerant reclaim and reprocessing service to recycle recovered refrigerants at contractor's service facility 5. Provide brazed joints at all fittings when installing new equipment; no soldered joints will be accepted 6. Utilize the most environmentally acceptable refrigerants available when new systems are installed 7. Remove and recover existing refrigerant prior to commencing the, demolition of air conditioning systems 8. Train and certify contractor personnel and use certified refrigerant recovery systems 9. Survey existing systems and make recommendations for more environmentally acceptable systems and refrigerants 10. Investigate alternative methods and developments in handling refrigerants and recommend better methods, procedures and alternatives concerning refrigerants

Naturally, we also developed a separate and equally comprehensive list of guidelines for our own employees.

When you consider that a large central air conditioning machine in an office building contains over 2,700 pounds of refrigerant compared to one pound of refrigerant in an automobile air conditioner, there can be little doubt about the enormous threat facing our environment today.

We at ESG are committed to easing that threat. As a result, we are more committed than ever to hold our employees and outside contractors to the highest environmental standards in the real estate industry.