Our thoughts and prayers are with the Fire Fighters and their families.
You will forever be remembered as heroes.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Coming to America
U.K.'s A-Gas Plans Expansion Into North America
A-Gas’s acquisitions in the U.S. will set it up for a significant expansion into North America, including the international rollout of its refrigerant reclamation technology.
This year, A-Gas celebrates its 20th year in business, but no time in those two decades has been quite as busy as last year. The past 12 months have seen intense activity as the Bristol refrigerant distributor and reclaimer bought two U.S. specialists, Coolgas and RemTec, and set up a fully fledged North American division. The firm has transplanted U.K. managing director Ken Logan to oversee the establishment of the U.S. operations for the next two years at least.
The acquisition of the U.S. businesses, plus a further distributor in Australia, Technochem, has seen the A-Gas Intl. group top £100 million turnover for 2012, with a worldwide headcount of 237.
“A-Gas is now the largest independent refrigerant player outside of the U.S.,” said Jon Masters, European managing director. “Our core territories are in the U.K., South Africa, and Australia, in each of which we have a 30-35 percent market share. So we were keen to try and take that offering to the U.S. — it was the right opportunity in terms of the business and the regulatory framework.”
That framework is the U.S. phase out of HCFCs and the probable phase down of HFCs, expected to closely follow the European Commission’s proposed F-Gas model — although progressive states like California are already bringing in more stringent rules.
The particular attraction of RemTec is that its core business is halon reclamation. Although these are largely from fire suppressants, this offers the right range of skills and technology to allow an expansion into refrigerant reclamation. This is where A-Gas brings its own skills to bear, said Masters. “We can bring our reclamation knowhow, and the benefit of the U.K. experience of selling the reclaimed HCFC product. The U.S. market is maybe four or five years behind Europe, but it is rapidly developing, and the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] has announced more cuts in HCFC volume.”
The plan is for the RemTec operation to be brought up to the same standard for refrigerant reclamation as A-Gas’s Bristol facilities by the end of this year.
The commercial implications of the rapid cuts should not be underestimated; in the U.S. over the past year, virgin R-22 has increased in price from $3 per pound to $15 per pound.
Coolgas, by contrast, is a conventional refrigerant distributor, but again the purchase is strategic, providing a foothold in the Southwest, from which A-Gas can build, with a brand name well known to the American market. It also holds all-important import rights to HCFCs.
A foothold in such a large territory is a big deal in its own right, but the potential is far bigger. “The U.S. business is roughly the same size as the U.K. business, but whereas in the U.K. that brings a 30 percent market share, in the U.S. it is only 2 percent of the market. It should be easier to double from 2-4 percent than from 30-60 percent.”
If the plans for reclamation at RemTec go well, it could be joined by other sites. While the U.K. can function well with a single reclamation site, the scale of the U.S. is likely to require a network of two or three more. With reclaimed HCFC expected to be useable in the U.S. beyond 2020, that is an attractive long-term target.
In a relatively short time, refrigerant recovery and reclamation has become a serious business for A-Gas. Its environmental services operations now account for around 20 percent of turnover (refrigerants is the largest proportion at 60 percent).
U.K. business director John Ormerod said, “What we do falls into two areas: cleaning up dirty gas by removing contaminants and separating out gases from refrigerant mixtures.
“We probably lead the world in refrigerant reclamation. There is only one other company in the U.K. and three in the U.S. who can separate refrigerants like we do,” he said.
The separation facilities at Bristol have come on apace since the pioneering days when its technology could be housed in a corner of the warehouse. The original plant is still in situ, but it has been joined by Separator 3, located outside the warehouse and large enough to be able to accommodate tanker-sized volumes of refrigerant, with a capacity to process around 400 tonnes a year.
Although the precise technology is secret, both plants are designed to reclaim refrigerant to Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) 700 standards, as well as being able to split mixed refrigerants into usable batches and to reclaim individual gases from cocktails of recovered refrigerant. The latter is where A-Gas claims distinctiveness, as “the only supplier who has both the technology and the capacity to provide this level of service.”
Content for the European Spotlight is provided courtesy of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Magazine, London. For more information, visit www.racplus.com.
Publication date: 5/20/2013
A-Gas’s acquisitions in the U.S. will set it up for a significant expansion into North America, including the international rollout of its refrigerant reclamation technology.
This year, A-Gas celebrates its 20th year in business, but no time in those two decades has been quite as busy as last year. The past 12 months have seen intense activity as the Bristol refrigerant distributor and reclaimer bought two U.S. specialists, Coolgas and RemTec, and set up a fully fledged North American division. The firm has transplanted U.K. managing director Ken Logan to oversee the establishment of the U.S. operations for the next two years at least.
The acquisition of the U.S. businesses, plus a further distributor in Australia, Technochem, has seen the A-Gas Intl. group top £100 million turnover for 2012, with a worldwide headcount of 237.
Acquiring Assets
“A-Gas is now the largest independent refrigerant player outside of the U.S.,” said Jon Masters, European managing director. “Our core territories are in the U.K., South Africa, and Australia, in each of which we have a 30-35 percent market share. So we were keen to try and take that offering to the U.S. — it was the right opportunity in terms of the business and the regulatory framework.”
That framework is the U.S. phase out of HCFCs and the probable phase down of HFCs, expected to closely follow the European Commission’s proposed F-Gas model — although progressive states like California are already bringing in more stringent rules.
The particular attraction of RemTec is that its core business is halon reclamation. Although these are largely from fire suppressants, this offers the right range of skills and technology to allow an expansion into refrigerant reclamation. This is where A-Gas brings its own skills to bear, said Masters. “We can bring our reclamation knowhow, and the benefit of the U.K. experience of selling the reclaimed HCFC product. The U.S. market is maybe four or five years behind Europe, but it is rapidly developing, and the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] has announced more cuts in HCFC volume.”
The plan is for the RemTec operation to be brought up to the same standard for refrigerant reclamation as A-Gas’s Bristol facilities by the end of this year.
The commercial implications of the rapid cuts should not be underestimated; in the U.S. over the past year, virgin R-22 has increased in price from $3 per pound to $15 per pound.
Coolgas, by contrast, is a conventional refrigerant distributor, but again the purchase is strategic, providing a foothold in the Southwest, from which A-Gas can build, with a brand name well known to the American market. It also holds all-important import rights to HCFCs.
A foothold in such a large territory is a big deal in its own right, but the potential is far bigger. “The U.S. business is roughly the same size as the U.K. business, but whereas in the U.K. that brings a 30 percent market share, in the U.S. it is only 2 percent of the market. It should be easier to double from 2-4 percent than from 30-60 percent.”
If the plans for reclamation at RemTec go well, it could be joined by other sites. While the U.K. can function well with a single reclamation site, the scale of the U.S. is likely to require a network of two or three more. With reclaimed HCFC expected to be useable in the U.S. beyond 2020, that is an attractive long-term target.
Reclamation Technology
In a relatively short time, refrigerant recovery and reclamation has become a serious business for A-Gas. Its environmental services operations now account for around 20 percent of turnover (refrigerants is the largest proportion at 60 percent).
U.K. business director John Ormerod said, “What we do falls into two areas: cleaning up dirty gas by removing contaminants and separating out gases from refrigerant mixtures.
“We probably lead the world in refrigerant reclamation. There is only one other company in the U.K. and three in the U.S. who can separate refrigerants like we do,” he said.
The separation facilities at Bristol have come on apace since the pioneering days when its technology could be housed in a corner of the warehouse. The original plant is still in situ, but it has been joined by Separator 3, located outside the warehouse and large enough to be able to accommodate tanker-sized volumes of refrigerant, with a capacity to process around 400 tonnes a year.
Although the precise technology is secret, both plants are designed to reclaim refrigerant to Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) 700 standards, as well as being able to split mixed refrigerants into usable batches and to reclaim individual gases from cocktails of recovered refrigerant. The latter is where A-Gas claims distinctiveness, as “the only supplier who has both the technology and the capacity to provide this level of service.”
Content for the European Spotlight is provided courtesy of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Magazine, London. For more information, visit www.racplus.com.
Publication date: 5/20/2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
NFPA - National Fire Protection Assocation
A-Gas RemTec is exhibiting again this year at NFPA! We are located in booth 433. Come see Patricia Burns, Taylor Kaufman, Terri AuFrance and Tammy Henck.
A-Gas RemTec will be exhibiting today through Wednesday!
See you there!
FSSA - Fire Suppression Systems Association
|
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors
Certification Renewals
If you have earned a certification from the ICC/NAFED or NAFED certification programs, you know that they must be renewed every three years. Information regarding the renewal process, policies, and application is available from the NAFED website. By logging in to the website, you can verify your certification status and check your renewal date.
It is important that you include accurate information on your renewal application. Only check those areas that you are certified in. Some applications are received where all four areas of certification are checked off for renewal when the individual only holds certification in one or two disciplines. This delays the renewal process because we have to verify if the individual is indeed certified in all of the areas that are checked. This takes time and adds to the expense of renewal processing. If this practice continues, NAFED may have to look at charging a special fee for processing erroneous applications.
To expedite the renewal application process, it is recommended that the application include copies of certificates or descriptions of any education credits from the past three years that are being used for renewal. Failure to include this information could result in an application being held for a verification audit. This would delay the issuance of a renewal and depending on a licensing jurisdiction, could delay the applicant's ability to obtain a new license/permit from the state.
It is important that you include accurate information on your renewal application. Only check those areas that you are certified in. Some applications are received where all four areas of certification are checked off for renewal when the individual only holds certification in one or two disciplines. This delays the renewal process because we have to verify if the individual is indeed certified in all of the areas that are checked. This takes time and adds to the expense of renewal processing. If this practice continues, NAFED may have to look at charging a special fee for processing erroneous applications.
To expedite the renewal application process, it is recommended that the application include copies of certificates or descriptions of any education credits from the past three years that are being used for renewal. Failure to include this information could result in an application being held for a verification audit. This would delay the issuance of a renewal and depending on a licensing jurisdiction, could delay the applicant's ability to obtain a new license/permit from the state.
New Board Members Elected
NAFED has elected new board members for the 2013-16 term. Following the 2013 annual meeting in Chicago, NAFED instated three new board members who will serve out three-year terms:
- Region Two Director: Bill Johnson, Mid State Fire Equipment, Lake Placid, Florida
- Region Four Director: Bob Sorensen, FireGuard, Omaha, Nebraska
- Director-at-Large: Daniel Laughlin, ProTec Fire Protection, Loganville, Georgia
Congratulations and welcome to our new board members.
Extinguisher Requirement Proposed Following Limo Fire
Following a fatal limo fire on the San Mateo Bridge in May 2013, State Senator Jerry Hill, representing San Mateo, California, has put forward a bill requiring fire extinguishers on limousines of less than 10 occupant capacity.
The proposed bill, SB-338 Fire extinguishers: limousines, adds the following text to the state vehicle code:
28062. (a) Every limousine shall be equipped with one fully charged fire extinguisher having at least a 4B:C rating.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “limousine” includes any sedan or sport utility vehicle, of either standard or extended length, with a seating capacity of not more than 10 passengers including the driver, used in the transportation of passengers for hire on a prearranged basis within this state.
The proposed bill, SB-338 Fire extinguishers: limousines, adds the following text to the state vehicle code:
28062. (a) Every limousine shall be equipped with one fully charged fire extinguisher having at least a 4B:C rating.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “limousine” includes any sedan or sport utility vehicle, of either standard or extended length, with a seating capacity of not more than 10 passengers including the driver, used in the transportation of passengers for hire on a prearranged basis within this state.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Welcome Aboard Taylor!
Taylor
Kaufman has been with A-Gas RemTec for almost 5 years as a part time employee
while finishing her degree at The Bowling Green State University. She graduated
with her degree in Apparel Merchandising and Product Development in December
2012. Taylor has since decided to join the A-Gas RemTec team full time. She
will be focusing on the fire protection side of the business. We want to
congratulate Taylor on graduating and welcome her on as a full time employee!
A-Gas
RemTec always looks to the local University for part time employees to assist
with updating our databases, reaching out to our customers to update their
information and finding new leads. We want to welcome Trent Kaufman, Nick
Grzebienik, Corine Fonseca, Kathy Suber and Rebecca Barth. We also want to
mention our other part time employees that assist with the same tasks: Anita
Brooks, Pat Payne and Jane Culpepper. This group of people really helps A-Gas
RemTec develop our databases and customer relationships on both the Fire
Protection and Refrigerant departments.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
FSSA - Fire Suppression Systems Association - Annunciator
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)