Issues Related to air conditioning units

Environmental issues

Air-conditioning plants consume a lot of energy. This means air or/and water and/or sound pollution at the source of the electricity. A rage number of these plants uses chemicals such as CFCs, HCFCs, and HFCs as the colling agents.

When such agents are released to the environment either accidentally or at the end of life, they have negative effects on the ozone layer and thus leads to global warming over time.

The recent times, many air-conditioners are being manufactured from plastics. If disposed to the environment, plastics can be detrimental as they are non-biodegradable. However, a large percentage of plastics can be recycled.

Energy Issues

Air-conditioning plants consume a lot of energy for them to function as expected. This deprives other energy needs as well as being very expensive to operate especially during extreme weather conditions (cold or hot) (Davis and Gertler, 2015).

Health Issues

A large percentage of the air-conditioning plants use ducts in their operations. Over time, these ducts accumulate dust and bacterial such as Legionella bacteria which causes Legionnaires' disease (Orkis et al., 2018). 

Whenever the air-conditioning plant is turned on, the dust and other contaminants are released to the surroundings and are inhaled by the users and thus affecting the health of people. 

 While there are ductless air-conditioners in the market, they are expensive to acquire. On the other hand, air-conditioning can save lives, especially in extreme weather conditions. 

Air conditions can help people with asthma as they are designed to condition are and also to filter it before provided it to the users. Filter removes dust and also harm full gases and this help people with breathing problems Orkis et al., 2018).

Policies

Montreal Protocol – This is an international treaty that was designed for ozone layer protection. it was signed on 26th August 1987. 

The treaty aims to phase out the production of various products that depletes the ozone layer such as those used in air-conditioning plants. The treaty has 46 signatories and ratified by 20 states.

The new model guidelines for room air conditioners and refrigerators – The guidelines require energy-efficient appliances as well as the use of refrigerants with a lower global warming potential.

United for Efficiency (U4E) guidelines - This guide focuses on room air conditioners. 

 It is intended to provide policymakers with information and best-practice case studies on how to promote energy-efficient and climate-friendly room air conditioners in their respective national markets.