At the 2026 Green Cooling Summit hosted by GIZ, Yosr Allouche, director general of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), is introduced as the keynote speaker on a topic of growing global significance: ‘R290 as the Kigali Key for Efficient Room A/Cs’. This is part two of a three-part series.
Part of the presentation.
© RACA Journal
In this segment, Allouche turns to the practical constraints that shape the deployment of R290 in room air conditioning: safety standards, manufacturing trends, and persistent market barriers. First, she discusses the role of safety standards and charge limits in determining where R290 can be used: in Europe, industry already recognises that R290 is a viable solution for most residential and small commercial systems – especially those with capacities up to 12kW.
She references the European standard EN 378, which includes green cells where R290 is clearly permissible and already in use for smaller capacities. However, for larger systems above 12kW, there are orange cells in the standards table, indicating limitations and tighter constraints, mainly due to charge limits imposed for safety reasons.
An interesting comparison emerges when juxtaposing European and international standards: The European framework (for example, EN 378) is, in some respects, more flexible in allowing higher charge limits for R290 in certain configurations.
By contrast, the international safety standard IEC 60335-2-40 imposes more restrictive charge limits, which can limit the ability to scale R290 in some markets globally. This mismatch in charge-limit rules makes it harder to establish consistent, large-scale global manufacturing strategies for R290-based AC equipment.
Allouche then examines global manufacturing trends:
- Asia – especially China and India – is currently leading R290 AC manufacturing, jointly producing more than 5.3 million R290 split AC units per year.
- Europe is ramping up quickly, particularly on the heat pump side, where R290 heat pumps are gaining market share.
- North America appears more cautious, with R290 currently more limited to portable units and some commercial chillers. One reason is that standards there are evolving more slowly, which constrains wider deployment.
She underscores a key systemic point: as manufacturing scales up, three things tend to happen:
- Unit costs decrease due to economies of scale.
- Familiarity with the technology increases among installers, service technicians, and end users.
- Market confidence grows, supporting even broader adoption.
Yet despite these promising dynamics, significant barriers to wider R290 adoption remain:
Perception of flammability: One of the largest obstacles is risk perception, not technical feasibility.
Many stakeholders still associate R290 primarily with fire risk, often overlooking:
- The use of sealed, well-engineered systems
- The existence of strict safety protocols
- The increasing availability of continuous training for technicians
Overcoming this requires clear communication, education, and real-world demonstrations of safe operation.
Regulatory and standards misalignment: Standards are not evolving at the same pace across regions. Some countries have clear policy direction favoring low-GWP refrigerants, but on-the-ground implementation is slow. Disparities between national, regional and international standards create uncertainty for manufacturers.
A deeply entrenched HFC ecosystem: For decades, the industry has been built around HCFCs and then HFCs’:
- Manufacturing lines
- Supply chains
- Service practices
- Technician training
This creates lock-in effects, where the existing system is optimised around HFCs, making a transition to R290 more complex from a business and operational standpoint.
Despite these hurdles, Allouche points out encouraging signals:
- Supply side: Manufacturers are expanding their R290 portfolios, especially in Europe where the number of R290 domestic heat pump models more than doubled between 2022 and 2023.
- Demand side: Consumers are increasingly aware and receptive: A survey in Germany (2023) shows that about 20% of respondents are ready to install R290 systems. Simultaneously, R32 demand is rising in some markets due to funding schemes, while R410A volumes have almost halved over two years, indicating a clear shift in refrigerant choices.
She also notes that, globally:
- Around 110 million air-conditioning units are produced each year.
- Roughly 80 million units are split systems, forming the largest segment.
Although R22 has largely disappeared from new systems, about one-third of the global installed base still uses R22. Among new units, R410A and R32 still dominate, while R290 is growing from a smaller base.
