EPA Section 608 Refrigerant Compliance for NYC Commercial Buildings

What EPA Section 608 Requires

EPA Section 608 is part of the federal Clean Air Act and is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It regulates how refrigerants are handled throughout the life of stationary air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment — the rooftop units, chillers, split systems, variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems, and walk-in coolers found in commercial buildings. In broad terms, Section 608 prohibits the knowing release (venting) of regulated refrigerants during service, maintenance, repair, and disposal; requires that technicians who open systems containing refrigerant hold the appropriate EPA Section 608 technician certification; requires that refrigerant be properly recovered using certified equipment before a system is serviced or disposed of; and imposes leak repair and recordkeeping obligations on owners and operators of larger appliances once a system exceeds a defined refrigerant charge and a defined leak rate. Because refrigerant lives inside your HVAC equipment, compliance is fundamentally an HVAC discipline: it depends on how units are serviced, how leaks are found and fixed, how refrigerant is recovered and tracked, and how all of it is documented. Separately but relatedly, the federal AIM Act is phasing down the production and consumption of high-GWP HFC refrigerants, which increasingly affects what refrigerants are available and which systems owners choose to repair, retrofit, or replace. Com+ Mechanical is a commercial HVAC contractor that helps NYC-area building owners operate, service, and upgrade their systems in line with these requirements — and keep the paper trail that demonstrates it.

Why Compliance Pays Off