SPX Honoured by EPA

SPX Corporation has announced that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the company, as well as one of its engineering managers, with prestigious awards for their work in helping to reduce atmospheric pollution caused by R-134a refrigerant, a greenhouse gas commonly used in automobile air conditioning units.
The awards, announced at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. last week, were determined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency staff, along with an international panel of judges representing industry, government and international non-governmental organizations.
“Every day our employees around the world work hard to develop new products and services that help our customers enhance the performance and productivity of their businesses, while also enabling them to run cleaner, more environmentally friendly operations,” said Chris Kearney, president and CEO, SPX Corporation.
“It is a tremendous honour to be recognized by the EPA for our active efforts to do our part in making the environment cleaner and safer for future generations.”
The EPA awarded SPX the 2007 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award for the company’s development of the SPX Robinair 34788 Refrigerant Recovery and Recharging Unit.
The unit is the only equipment of its kind that is fully compliant with the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) new standard J2788 requirements.
Under these requirements, refrigerant recovery and recharging equipment must recover at least 95% of the refrigerant from an automotive air conditioning system and recharge the system to an accuracy within 1/2 ounce of refrigerant capacity.
Previously, refrigerant recovery machines left behind as much as 30% of the refrigerant which would then escape into the atmosphere.
In 1990, the EPA established the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Awards to recognize exceptional leadership, personal dedication, and technical achievements in eliminating ozone-depleting substances.
Gary Murray, Manager, Mechanical Product Engineering for SPX Service Solutions, a business unit of SPX, was also recognized by the EPA with the 2007 Climate Protection Award for his work as a member of the Improved Mobile Air Conditioning Service Emissions Reduction Team. The team worked tirelessly on a research program to determine new methods for reducing refrigerant emissions.
Murray provided critical assistance, utilizing the testing and engineering resources of SPX to expedite the development of the new design and validation of the equipment to meet the new SAE standard.
“Environmental protection is everyone’s responsibility, and these leaders are making smart choices to hand down a cleaner, healthier future,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.
In 1998, the EPA established the Climate Protection Awards to recognize exceptional leadership, outstanding innovation, personal dedication, and technical achievements in protecting the climate.