On April 19, 2017, Honeywell announced the immediate commercial availability in the Asia Pacific region of Solstice (R) N40 (R-448A), a new reduced global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant for commercial refrigeration.
   Supermarkets, convenience stores, cold storage warehouses, and others with low- and medium-temperature refrigeration equipment can reduce their environmental impact and energy consumption by adopting Solstice N40, Honeywell’s Solstice N40 is an effective, energy-efficient hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) blend and is designed to provide customers with a near drop-in replacement for previous generation solutions such as R-22 and R-404A. Solstice N40 has already been installed in more than 2,000 systems worldwide, and is supported by leading system and showcase OEMs in the EU, US, Japan, and Asia Pacific.
   “As refrigerant customers in the Asia Pacific region seek new solutions to further improve energy efficiency and optimize system performance, Solstice refrigerant solutions are available today to ease the transition to next-generation products that are safe for intended use and capable of making a significant positive environmental impact,said David K Chen, marketing director for Honeywell Fluorine Products Asia Pacific. “Now with established supply capabilities in Japan, Greater China, South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, we are excited to officially bring this economical and easy-to-adopt refrigerant to our customers in Asia Pacific.”
   Refrigeration can account for upto 60% of a store’s total energy expenditure, therefore energy saving is one of the most critical needsfor supermarkets and convenience stores. Solstice N40 has a GWP of 1273, which is 68% lower than R-404A’s 3943. It reduces operating costs by helping storesreduce their energy consumptionby up to 16% (as proven in field operationat supermarkets across the European Union and the United States),and is expected to achieve up to 40% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in four years term.
   “Solstice (R) N40 has been running smoothly in our store for 18 months and is actually improving our energy efficiency by 5% or more.  This combined with minimal equipment changes makes it costeffective too,” said Gary Cooper, director of refrigeration department at Lowe’s Market.
   As the equipment design for Solstice N40 is similar to R-404A and R-22, it enables continual use of existing hardwareand can therefore support retrofitting or renovation of stores, in addition to new installations.
   In addition to Solstice N40, Honeywell's family of Solstice-branded products includes stationary, commercial refrigeration and mobile refrigerants, liquid and gaseous blowing agents, solvents and propellants—all based on Honeywell’s HFO technology that helps customers lower their environmental footprint without sacrificing end-product performance. The company is completing a US$900M investment program in the research and development of new capacities to produce next-generation refrigerants, insulation materials, aerosols and solvents.