B Medical Systems’ White Paper points to bottom line advantages of Green Lab storage solutions

Luxembourg:– B Medical Systems, the Luxembourg-based pioneer in the medical equipment industry, says its comprehensive Green Lab portfolio of safe storage solutions not only comply with latest EU ‘F-Gas’ regulations on green refrigerants but also deliver bottom-line savings.

A new B Medical white paper shows how purchasing more energy-efficient ultra-low temperature storage can deliver substantial energy savings for laboratories and research facilities, thus reducing their carbon emissions footprint.

Global warming threat

The Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases and Repealing Regulation (EC) No 842/2006, otherwise known as the ‘new’ F-Gas Regulation 517/2014, came into force at the start of this year. It outlaws the use of so-called F-gases – fluorinated gases that increase the global warming ‘greenhouse’ effect. This has forced a shake-up in the world of medical refrigeration by compelling all clinics and laboratories to replace environmentally unfriendly cooling equipment with systems that use  green refrigerants. The new regulation also promises to foster innovation in the med tech industry.

F-gases (fluorinated greenhouse gases) are used in a vast range of industrial applications, including medical refrigeration. Unlike chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), they do not harm the atmospheric ozone layer, but are powerful ‘greenhouse’ gases with significant global warming effect. Since 1990, European emissions of F-gases have risen by 60 per cent, according to an EU position paper (see Resources).

At a time when climate change strikes are proliferating across the globe, the EU has adopted a firmer regulatory action to protect the environment. A new requirement of the F-Gas Regulation 517/2014 calls for the abolishment of refrigerants presenting high global warming potential values (GWP >2,500).

Reducing lab carbon footprint

B Medical Systems had anticipated the regulatory change by designing more than 40 refrigerators, freezers and ULT models to use natural green refrigerants such as R600a, R290, and R170 that also provide enhanced energy and cooling efficiency due to their high latent heat of evaporation.

This in turn helps laboratories reduce the CO₂ emissions of their everyday operations by saving energy since  devices with optimised cooling efficiency also deliver lower energy consumption, a particularly crucial issue for the life sciences industries.

Last year, a webinar organized by University of California Davis with support from U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Building Alliance (BBA) Laboratory Project Team reported that that laboratories consume five times more energy than office spaces, with a typical ultra-low temperature freezer consuming as much electricity as a small house.

These and other aspects are covered in the B Medical Systems white paper Ultra Low Temperature Freezers Of Superior Energy Efficiency (see Resources) that covers the impacts of the new regulations and details the scope for unlocking  energy savings and reducing carbon footprint that can be achieved by laboratories and research facilities that embrace Green Lab ultra-low temperature freezers and refrigerators.

About B Medical Systems
B Medical Systems S.à r.l. is a Luxembourg-based manufacturer and global distributor of certified medical devices with more than 40 years of experience.

As a market leader for the vaccine cold chain industry, B Medical Systems contributes to the success of immunization programs across the world with a portfolio that includes Solar Direct Drive Refrigerators, Ice Lined Refrigerators and Transport Boxes.

The company also produces a complete range of high-end medical refrigeration and blood management solution including the laboratory refrigerators /freezers, ultra-low freezers, blood bank refrigerators, plasma freezers, contact shock freezers and transport boxes to meet the medical refrigeration and transportation needs of blood banks, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry.

B Medical Systems – Saving lives through reliable and innovative technology

Further information at: www.bmedicalsystems.com

Resources
Click on B Medical Systems Green Lab solutions are F-gas compliant  for more information.
Click on Energy-efficient ULT freezers to download B Medical White Paper.
Click on Fluorinated greenhouse gases for EU policy paper.