Junior Member co-chairs new IIR Working Group on Life Cycle Climate Performance Guideline

The IIR is committed to share knowledge in support of the design, operation and end-of-life management of environmentally friendly, safe, energy-efficient and cost-effective refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. As part of these efforts, the IIR released a Guideline for Life Cycle Climate Performance published in January 2016, under the coordination of Prof. Yunho Hwang (Honorary member of IIR Commission B1 “Thermodynamics & transfer processes”, USA).

 

Building on its strong impact—ranking among the most downloaded IIR technical publications and widely consulted worldwide since 2017— IIR Commissions B1, B2, and E2 have proposed the creation of a new Working Group, “LCCP2”, tasked with updating both the guide and its evaluation methodology to better support decision makers and industry stakeholders.

 

In February 2026, the IIR’s Science and Technology Council approved the new LCCP2 working group with the following objectives:

• Review and update assumptions and baseline reference data
• Update calculations to include emissions due to material acquisition
• Update reference data such as GWP and emission values based on latest scientific information
• Clarify emission factors to include boundary conditions such as emissions due to upstream activities
• Expand coverage of equipment, refrigerants, and materials
• Include support for other energy standards and regions; perhaps representative climate regions
• Balance calculation complexity with reasonable ease of use
• Provide example calculations in the form of spreadsheets
• Provide an outlook on Life Cycle Assessment to capture environmental impacts beyond climate change
• Conduct outreach activities such as webinars and presentations at technical events to improve visibility and promotion

 

The LCCP2 will be chaired by Prof. Vikrant C. Aute (University of Maryland, USA) with the support of IIR Junior Member Christian Vering (Commission E2 “Heat pumps & energy recovery”, Germany) as co-chair and Prof. Yunho Hwang acting as observer.

 

The first draft of the LCCP guideline will be discussed at the next IIR International Congress of Refrigeration, scheduled to take place in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 21–27 August 2027.