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Genetron Performax® LT Delivers Results for Iconic Arena How Herb Brooks Arena is Poised for Continued Greatness During the 1980 Olympic Games, the United States hockey team — against all odds — defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union. During what would later be known as The Miracle on Ice, legendary team U.S.A. coach Herb Brooks is credited with saying "Great moments are born from great opportunity." Since then, the arena now known as Herb Brooks Arena, one of three indoor rinks at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York, has been used primarily for figure skating events and hockey tournaments. The Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) — the organization that manages the Olympic Center — is responsible for keeping the facility in world-class condition, and recently decided to make a number of upgrades, including a switch from their current refrigerant solution, R-22, to Honeywell's R-407F refrigerant solution to ensure ice quality, consistency and reliability of the iconic arena well into the future. To start the process, ORDA's manager, Denny Allen, consulted with long-time contractor, Mollenberg-Betz, to switch from R-22 to a more cost-effective solution that is also better for the environment, and hasn't looked back since. In conjunction with other equipment upgrades, Mollenberg-Betz and Denny Allen replaced R-22 with Honeywell Genetron Performax® LT (R-407F), a "drop-in" alternative to R-22 that met Allen's cost-performance criteria and features a lower global-warming potential. The team also considered Honeywell's Solstice® N40 (R-448A), another cost-effective refrigerant solution based on new hydrofluoroolefin technology, but ultimately landed on Performax LT, a hydrofluorocarbon. Since the initial conversion of two chillers from R-22 to Performax LT, Allen has converted two additional chillers to R-407F and is looking forward to achieving greater efficiencies in his facility with the relatively simple refrigerant transition. Over time, those efficiencies, made possible in part by Honeywell's Genetron Performax LT, will make a substantial impact in refrigerant savings and reduced operational costs, allowing ORDA to invest more into the facilities themselves. Allen has also seen immediate impacts to overall operational costs with the new Honeywell refrigerants in place, claiming: "In some cases, we've been able to run only three chillers instead of four while still maintaining the quality of the ice thanks to the Honeywell refrigerant." According to Allen, this was a positive step in maintaining the arena that has gone down in history as home to one of Team U.S.A. Hockey's proudest moments. "A primary goal is to meet expectations for ice quality throughout the year. Meeting that goal — given aging equipment, growing maintenance costs and changing regulations — required us to take a step back to make the right decisions for the future," said Allen. "We're doing the right thing for this facility and moving in the right direction." Although the arena that is now Herb Brooks's namesake has undergone a number of changes since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, it is — and has always been — a place where great moments are born from great opportunity. Allen's work in managing the equipment and refrigerants ensures that it will continue to be just that for decades to come. "In some cases, we've been able to run only three chillers instead of four while still maintaining the quality of the ice thanks to the Honeywell refrigerant." - Denny Allen, ORDA's manager The Herb Brooks Arena at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, NY, now runs four chillers on Genetron Performax LT (R-407F) instead of R-22. This is a paid advertisement by Honeywell Refrigerants