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Sustainable Solutions 

In Fire Suppression

U.S. EPA SNAP Status 

Change Considerations 

3-14
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Presentation Overview

 Clean Agent Fire Suppression

 Concern for HFC Growth

 Substitutes for Fire Suppression

 System Investment 

 Market Considerations

 Standards, Approvals, Listings

 Government Procurement

 Halon 1211 in Flight line

 Status Change Proposal 

 Concluding Comments
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President’s Climate Action Plan – June 25, 2013

 US government will “purchase cleaner alternatives to HFCs 

whenever feasible and transition over time to equipment that 

uses safer and more sustainable alternatives.”

 EPA will use its authority under the SNAP program to 

“encourage private sector investment in low-emissions 

technology by identifying and approving climate-friendly 

chemicals while prohibiting certain uses of the most harmful 

chemical alternatives.”

 Leading Efforts to Address Climate Change through 

International Negotiations 
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What the Climate Action Plan Means for SNAP

•Innovative companies have invested in low-GWP

alternatives.

•Forward-leaning manufacturers of advanced technologies 

and equipment can provide near-term reductions in 

emissions.

•Responds to federal procurement needs to “purchase 

cleaner alternatives to HFCs whenever feasible”

Where it’s feasible to move to lower-GWP alternatives?

-Where investments already have brought climatefriendly alternatives to the market 

-Where current listings include obsolete high-GWP

HFCs and blends.
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Where to Focus First? 

•Where alternatives are being used, available already for 

many end-uses Percent of market already in alternatives, 

is transition feasible for additional market segments? 

•Is there one alternative or multiple – allowing trust and 

choice? 

•Are alternatives safer for human health and the 

environment? 

•Do other alternatives meet stringent technical demands 

for particular end-uses? 

•Will existing equipment be able to be serviced? Will EPA 

consider the useful lifetimes of equipment? 

•Percent of market already in alternatives? 
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Inert Gases, HFCs and 

Fluoroketones are all 

used in UL and FM 

approved total flooding 

fire suppression 

systems.

Where Total Flood Clean Agents are Used

 Computer Rooms & Data Centers

 Telecommunications Centers

 Hospital Equipment and Records

 Control Rooms

 Archives

 Museums

 Art Galleries

 Libraries

 Vaults

 Engine Rooms

 Offshore Oil & Gas 

 Military

 Aviation

 Cold Temp

~98%

Protecting high value 

assets from fire where 

water can not be used
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Clean Agent Total Flooding Systems

Agent Storage

Containers

Control Panel

Fire Detectors

Discharge Piping

Discharge Nozzles

Notification Appliances

Equipment Shutdown

HVAC Shutdown

Building Fire Alarm

Dedicated 120VAC Power

Room Enclosure

Venting 

Requirements
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System manufacturers compete with different 

system designs for any given agent

 System pressure

 Agent piping distance

 Advanced delivery systems

 Cylinder storage

 Footprint

 Nozzle design

 May impact system approval for ceiling height, coverage

 Silensor nozzles

 Cylinders sizes – 10lb -1200 lb

 Selector valve technology

 Software considerations

• Optimize piping network

 Etc.

Every agent yields multiple competitive system solutions
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Weight & Volume, Design Concentration, System Cost

 Calculations based on a 60’ x 60’ x 10’ volume

Agent

Agent 

Weight in 

Pounds

Agent 

Volume in 

Cubic Feet

Agent Design 

Concentration 

for Class A

Number 

of Tanks

FK 5-1-12 

(Novec 1230) 1,467 NA 4.5% 2

HFC-227ea 

(FM-200) 1,171 NA 6.7% 2

HFC-125 

(ECARO) 1,083 NA 8.7% 2

Inert 

Gases NA 15,071 34.2% 36

•Agent alone does not dictate system cost

•Optimized system design can make Novec systems less expensive

•Social Security Administration

Agent and System Investment has lead to cost effective substitutes
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Safety Margin for Total Flooding 

1. No Observable Adverse Effect Level for cardiac sensitization

Agent NOAEL1

Agent 

Concentration 

Design for 

Class A

Safety

Margin 

for 

Class A 

FK 5-1-12 

(Novec 1230) 10% 4.5% 122%

HFC-227ea 

(FM-200) 9% 6.7% 34%

HFC-125 

(ECARO)

7.5%

(11.5%PBPK) 8.7% -14%(32%PBPK)

Inert Gases 43% 34.2% 26%

CO2 <5% 30.0%

lethal 

@ design 

concentration

Are alternatives safer for human health and the environment? 

Low GWP Substitutes Provide a Large Margin of Safety
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Properties Nov ec 

1230

 FM-200 

(HFC227ea) 

ECARO

(HFC125)

Inert 

Gases

Halon

1301

Ozone Depletion

Potential (ODP) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 12.0

Global Warming

Potential-IPCC 2001 1 3220 3500 0-1 7140

Atmospheric

Lifetime (years)

0.014 34.2 29.0

Inert 

Gases

65.0

HFCs and Climate Change
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0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

HFC-23

HFC-227ea 

HFC-236fa 

HFC-125

HFC-32

HFC-134a HFC-152a 

HFC-245fa 

HFC-365mfc

HFC-43-10mee

G

W

P

Fire Protection

Refrgerant

Foam Blowing

Solvent

HFCs by Industry Sector

HFCs in Fire Suppression have the Highest GWPs
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Published by Guus J. M. Velders, David W. Fahey, John S. 

Daniel, Mack McFarland, Stephen O. Andersen in the 

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, June 

2009

HFC growth projected to = climate forcing of ODSs 

and 9-19% of the Kyoto basket by 2050

HFC-227ea Atm. Concentrations

Laube et. Al. 2010

HFC Emissions from Fire Suppression Continue to Increase
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© 3M 2008. All Rights Reserved.

 Original EPA SNAP Language re: Novec 1230 Fluid

 “(FK-5-1-12) provides an improvement over use of halon

1301, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and 

hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in fire protection. We find that 

C6-perfluoroketone is acceptable because it reduces 

overall risk to public health and the environment in the 

end use listed.”

» U.S. EPA 12/20/02 Federal Register

Inert gas and water mist also reduce overall risk

SNAP Program - Evaluates substitutes that reduce overall 

risk to human health & environment in industrial sectors. 

Multiple testaments to the breadth and depth of available substitutes
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U.S. EPA Analysis of Technologies 

that could enable an HFC Phase-down

Inert Gases

Water Mist

Novec 1230 Fluid
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.

September 2011

http://ec.europa.eu/clima/studies/f-gas/docs/2011_study_en.pdf
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“In fire protection, the key abatement option could fully 

substitute the use of HFC-23 (GWP 14,800) as fire 

extinguishing agent in or before 2030. The use of HFC-227ea, 

in contrast, can be replaced in most but not all applications.”

Substitutes exist for HFCs in Fire Suppression
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TEAP Progress Report - 2010

 There are some applications for which only the 

original halon, an HCFC, or a high GWP HFC (i.e., 

HFCs -125, -227ea, -236fa and -23) is the only 

alternative. For example, the very low temperature 

requirements of the Alaskan oil and gas production 

facilities rule out all but halon 1301 or HFC-23. In 

crew bays of armoured vehicles,..On military and 

civilian flight lines...

 HTOC - There are a few important fire protection 

applications such as oil and gas facilities in cold climates and 

crew bays of armoured vehicles where the only current 

options are to use recycled halon or a high-GWP HFC. 
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Do other alternatives meet stringent technical demands for 

particular end-uses? 

 EPA has approved many non HFC substitutes for 

halon in fire suppression

 Industry standards include HFCs and sustainable 

substitutes, e.g. NFPA, ISO.

 System Innovation

 Every major system manufacturer has approvals for both 

HFC systems and sustainable alternatives.

 Approval body listings illustrate the broad diversity in 

systems using sustainable agents

Is there one alternative or multiple – allowing trust and choice? 
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Multiple Approved Original Equipment Manufacturers 

Total Flooding System Manufacturers

Tyco 

UTC (Kidde)

Minimax

Firetrace

Marine System Manufacturers

Kidde Marine

Minimax

Sea-Fire

Fire Fluid Tech.

Tyco Marine

SEVO Systems

Siemens Building Technologies

Janus

Specialty System Manufacturers

Amerex

Firetrace

Martec

Competition with substitutes exists due to number of 

OEMs, agents, systems and installers
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Clean Agent Pre 1994 Halon 1301 (Ansul, Fike, Kidde, 

Chemetron, Fenwal, Pyrotronics...)

Available Clean Agents Post 1994-2003 (Ansul, Fike, 

Kidde, Chemetron, Fenwal, Pyrotronics, Pemal...)

IG-55 

IG-541 

FC 3-1-10 

HFC-227ea 

Competitive Landscape 1994 - 2014
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Clean Agent business Post 2004 (Ansul, Pyro-Chem, Fike, Kidde, Chemetron, 

Fenwal, Siemens, Janus, Amerex, Victaulic, Firetrace, Minimax, SEVO, Viking..)

 IG-55 

 IG-100 

 IG-541 

 FK-5-1-12 

 HFC-227ea 

 HFC-125 

 Additional competitive 

considerations in 2014

 Aerosols

 Water Mist

 HyBrid Systems

 Pre-Action Systems

 Early Warning Smoke 

Detection

 O2 Reduction Systems

Status change on HFCs in fire suppression yields a market 

more competitive than that which existed pre-2004.
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NFPA 2001 Standard on Clean Agent Fire Protection Systems

ISO 14520 Standard on Gaseous Media Fire Extinguishing Systems

UL Listed FM Approved

VdS Approved LPCB Approved IMO Recognized

Standards, Approvals and Listings for Clean Agents

U.S EPA SNAP approved as alternative to halon in occupied spaces

CNPP Approved
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FM Approvals for Clean Agents

 24 separate entities with FM approved systems

 20 with HFC Systems, 2 unlikely to sell in the U.S.

 16 with Novec 1230 Systems

 18 with Novec 1230 and/or Inert Gas

 4 don’t sell HFCs at all

 Major OEMs have both Novec and Inert gas alternatives 

to HFCs

Multiple systems available, with technical equivalents 

(UL and FM approved), from multiple OEMs to provide trust and choice 
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No Technical Barriers to HFC Status Change - Fire 

Suppression is a Specification Business

 Specifying engineers will copy and paste the same 

construction specification until compelled to change.

 Path of least resistance

 OEMs may specify a unique system designs to narrow a 

specification and eliminate competition

 Based on competitive landscape, not technical merit

 When specifiers and end-users understand the difference 

in agents, they generally choose sustainable.

HFC status change in clean agent fire suppression will 

accelerate transition to readily available substitutes
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Break Specification Inertia in both 

Government Procurement and Commercial Buildings

 NSA Fort Meade Data Center

 NSA Specification still calls for FM-200

 Based on inertia alone, not technical merit

 71,000 lbs of FM-200 (HFC-227ea) = 94,000 tons of CO2 eq

 Annual greenhouse gas emissions from 17,045 passenger vehicles

 CO2emissions from 190,274 barrels of oil consumed 

 Carbon sequestered annually by 67,064acres of U.S. forests 

 CO2emissions from burning 352 railcars’ worth of coal 

Inconsistent with LEED Energy & Atm. Credits, 

Executive Order 13514 and the CAP
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Novec 1230 fluid Project with the Social Security Administration

SSA 2013 Project

45K lbs with a 45K lb connected reserve

Substituted 120,000 tons of CO2E emission potential

SSA job illustrates that substantial investment in agent and 

system technology has lead to cost effective replacement of HFCs.

Switched from an FM-200 specification 

to a high pressure system from 

Firetrace, with large cylinders and 

optimized software which lead to 

equipment and installation 

cost savings ($250,000)
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What’s Possible?

 ~98 % reduction in HFC use in fire suppression

 Minimize growth of the installed base 

 Status Change on HFCs in total flood fire 

suppression – Narrowed use limits

 HFC-23, HFC-227ea, HFC-125, HFC-236fa, HFC-134a –

Use restriction – “Acceptable for nonresidential uses 

where other alternatives are not technically feasible due 

to performance or safety requirements.”, e.g., in military, 

aviation, or low temperature applications. 

 Halon replacement

 Many global examples of halon replacement

 U.S., Malaysia, MEA
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Other Stakeholder Perspectives

 Objection: Fire suppression engineer needs to be able to 

supply the best fire suppression.

• Response: Innovative substitutes are mature in the 

market and included in the same standard as HFCs. 

There are no technical barriers for ~98 % of new 

installations. Robust competitive landscape without 

HFCs.

 Objection – Cost

• Response – Sustainable solutions compete head to 

head with HFCs for every projects and frequently win. 

 Objection – Small, non-emissive sector

• Response - Atmospheric concentrations show 

otherwise.
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Concluding Remarks

 HFC substitutes are mature technologies and widely commercialized 

 All major system OEMs have sustainable alternatives

 Market inertia with HFCs based on a 20 year specification history with 

HFCs, not technical need.

 Status change will break the inertia 

 With both agents and systems, the fire suppression market is well 

prepared for a shift to and competition with sustainable substitutes

 Cost of substitutes is a slight premium, sometimes negative

 Low abatement cost by any measure

Status Change in Fire Suppression is Possible Now
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Thank You!!