TABLE OF CONTENTS - Everything R744

Non-NR group: Compared with the above results,
the “non-NR” group of respondents estimated that
conventional refrigerants would still be more competitive
than natural refrigerants in five areas: the lack of trained
technicians, the general awareness and availability
of information, the compatibility with standards, the
existing market demand and competition levels, as
well as for available financial support. Specifically, 42%
believed capital costs were a weakness, while half of
all “non-NR” respondents consider the lack of training
a barrier (50%). Interestingly, however, the order of
strengths and weaknesses remained the same as in the
“NR group”.
COMPARISON OF NR STRENGHTS WITH
PURCHASING CRITERIA
If we compare findings about the importance of certain
purchasing criteria for end-users, with the strengths of
natural refrigerants, some interesting conclusions can
be drawn. The following table indicates in which areas
the requirements of end-users are met by the identified
strengths of natural refrigerants. The method used is to
look first at the ranking of the purchasing criteria (also
reflected as items in the question about strengths). These
items (column 1) are ranked from 1 (most important
criteria) to 11 (least important criteria) in the second
column. Where a range for individual items are indicated
for some cells, this specifically takes into account answers
from all respondents, and for the sub-set of end-users
only (as these are the ones mostly affected). In the next
step, the strengths of natural refrigerants are matched in
the third column to the respective purchasing criteria.
The last column indicates how well natural refrigerants
meet expectations by end-users. Green color indicates
deviance of 0-3 between both rankings; yellow depicts
where purchasing criteria and strengths of NR deviate
4-6; and red indicates were NR do not meet purchasing
criteria currently (difference in ranking is higher than 6).
Criteria
Compatibility of Natural Refrigerants Strengths with
Purchasing Criteria
Purchasing
criteria
Strength
Return on investment 1-3 4
Capital cost, initial investment 1-2 7
Safety 2-3 5
Efficiency / performance 4 2
Available skilled personnel 5 12
Availability / supply 6-7 6
Familiarity 6-7 11
Available / uniform standards 6-7 10
Competitive advantage 8-9 8
Environmental impact 8-9 1
Available financial support 10-11 9
Sustainability / CSR / corporate strategy 10-11 3
High Compatibility (deviance of 0-3)
Moderate Compatibility (deviance of 4-6)
Low Compatibility (deviance of 7-10)
Match
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