Refrigerant driving license takes to the road

USA: The first round of training sessions for the Refrigerant Driving License (RDL), a global refrigerant management initiative, have been completed in Kigali, Rwanda.

The RDL, established by the USA’s Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and UN Environment, sets minimum requirements for the proper and safe handling of refrigerants in air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment.

This pilot stage initiates a global programme to help Article 5 (developing) countries transition to alternative refrigerants under the Kigali Amendment’s HFC phase down schedule.

The train-the-trainer session held in Kigali is the first part of a comprehensive programme in which a refrigerant management expert, or master trainer, trains a small number of local trainers on how to administer the RDL programme in their country. The local trainers will then train an initial pool of approximately 100 local technicians in the proper and safe handling of refrigerants.

In the coming months, five other countries will participate in the pilot programme: Grenada, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago. AHRI and UN Environment will evaluate the pilot stage and modify the final RDL training programme based on feedback from the pilot programme.

“AHRI is honoured to partner with UN Environment in this important global effort to prepare for the coming refrigerant transition,” said AHRI president and CEO Stephen Yurek. “It is especially fitting that the first pilot programme is held in Kigali, whose name is associated with the most recent amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which AHRI fully supports.”

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