CSA Group Revised Position on Certifying Hydrogen & Natural Gas Products in Canada and the US – Recognizes Acceptability of Natural Gas Containing Up to and Including 5% of Hydrogen.
In the December 12, 2022, Update on End Use Codes and Standards, we reported on the CSA Group’s Testing, Inspection, and Certification organization correspondence to its customers who have fuel-burning appliances certified to operate on natural gas, providing details of the organization’s position regarding the use of hydrogen blends in those products. Information on this matter that has since been removed from the CSA Group website, stated that “CSA certification of a product is void when it is used outside the parameters of the applicable standards – which would include the use of fuels other than natural gas, such as a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen.” Since that posting, a CSA Hydrogen Working Group was formed and reviewed a substantial amount of data and information on field and laboratory experiences with hydrogen blending with natural gas and received a request for interpretation on the acceptability and experiences of blending of up to and including 5% of hydrogen with natural gas.
The following interpretation regarding all standards under the Z21/83 and CSA Gas Technical Committees, as listed below (not shown), has been approved by the Members of the CSA Technical Committees on Gas Appliances and Related Accessories [JB101] and Performance & Installation of Gas Burning Appliances & Related Accessories [U101].
Question: Do you agree that natural gas containing up to and including 5% of Hydrogen is covered by testing with Test Gas A?
Answer: Yes
Following the posting of this interpretation on April 18, Doug Morton, Vice President, Government Relations for the CSA Group issued the following statement:
“Since our statement of November 21, 2022, our standards Technical Committees have been provided access to a range of test data from a variety of sources, and upon careful review and analysis, agree that natural gas containing up to and including 5% of Hydrogen is covered by testing with Test Gas A. As such, no changes to our standards are required, and product certifications remain valid.
The Request For Interpretation (RFI), and the position of the Technical Committees, have been published here: https://www.csagroup.org/documents/Formal_Interpretations.pdf. “
The interpretation and the CSA statement have resolved substantial concerns from the CSA Group position on hydrogen blending in the November 21, 2022 statement.
AGA Sponsors the International Code Councils (ICC) Building Safety Month .
Again, this year, AGA is a Foundation Sponsor of the ICC’s Building Safety Month (BSM) held each May. Details of the events and programs that will be held during May can be found here: 2023 Building Safety Month – ICC (iccsafe.org) . Below is a brief summary of the purpose of the ICC’s BSM:
About Building Safety Month
“Building Safety Month is an international campaign that takes place in May to raise awareness about building safety. This campaign reinforces the need for the adoption of modern, regularly-updated building codes, and helps individuals, families and businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures.
The International Code Council, its members, and a diverse partnership of professionals from the building construction, design and safety communities come together with corporations, government agencies, professional associations and nonprofits to promote building safety through proclamations, informational events, legislative briefings and more. We come together to support Building Safety Month because we understand the need for safe and sustainable structures where we live, work and play.
All communities need building codes to protect their citizens from disasters like fires, weather-related events and structural collapse. Building codes are society’s best way of protecting homes, offices, schools, manufacturing facilities, stores and entertainment venues. Code officials work day in and day out to keep the public safe.”
AGA is proud to support and participate in the ICC’s BSM to further demonstrate our and our members commitment for maintaining and improving safety provisions for the built environment.