What share of the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gas in our fixed fire suppression system does the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) treat as leaking each year?
The IPCC cites a study of annual emissions from installed flooding systems of 2 percent of the installed gas, plus or minus 1. For halon 1211 portable extinguishers it applies 4 percent plus or minus 2. The Guidelines' spreadsheet example uses 4 percent. Without a recovery code of practice, assume the gas is not recovered at end of life.
The study figure in the Guidelines
Volume 3 Chapter 7, Section 7.6.2.2: "A recent study shows that annual emissions from installed flooding systems are in the range of 2 ± 1 percent of the installed base" (Verdonik and Robin, 2004). For halon 1211 portable extinguishers the Halons Technical Options Committee estimated a rate about twice that of fixed systems, and applying that factor gives "a range of 2 to 6 percent (that is, 4% ±2%) of the in-use quantities". The Guidelines' Tier 1 spreadsheet example (Figure 7.8, Austria, HFC-227ea) lists the Tier 1 defaults as an emission factor from the installed base of 4 percent, a lifetime of 15 years and 0 percent destroyed at end of life.
Flooding systems mainly use HFCs, perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and a fluoroketone as substitutes for halons. The Guidelines call actual emissions from the sub-sector "expected to be quite small" because the use is normally non-emissive standby protection, while the installed bank of future potential emissions grows.
The equation
Equation 7.17: Emissions in year t = Bank(t) x EF plus the recovery, recycling or disposal loss (RRL), where EF is the fraction of the agent emitted each year excluding retired equipment, and RRL is the loss when equipment is removed from use. The bank is the gas in installed systems.
End of life
Typical lifetimes are 15 to 20 years for flooding systems. The Guidelines say that for countries without a national Industry Code of Practice, "it is good practice to assume that the agent will not be recovered at the end of the system life and is emitted". Recovered gas can be recycled or destroyed, so keep the contractor's recovery record if there is one. The Guidelines also say the zero-recovery default "may overestimate end-of-life emissions", because the gas may be destroyed or recycled.
What the percentage does not cover
The Guidelines say fire protection equipment is designed to release its charge in an actual fire. The Guidelines do not say whether a discharge is inside the 2 percent. Our reading is that a real or test discharge is better counted on its own from the cylinder weights or refill record, as our extinguisher page explains, so it is not hidden inside a default.
A server room with 300 kilograms of clean agent
- Yearly leak at 2 percent: 300 x 0.02 = 6 kilograms (range 1 to 3 percent: 3 to 9 kilograms)
- Over a 15 year life at 2 percent: 15 x 6 = 90 kilograms, assuming each year's leak is topped back up so the charge stays at 300 kilograms
- Removed with no recovery record: 300 kilograms assumed emitted
- End-of-life release is 300 / 90 = 3.3 times the leaks of the whole 15 years
The 300 kilograms is an example; read the weight on the cylinder labels. If leaked gas is not topped up, the charge falls and only about 210 kilograms (300 minus 90) is left at removal, so the end-of-life figure is smaller. Multiply kilograms by the gas's global warming potential in your chosen report for carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into dated records. It does not read fire system service reports, so keep the cylinder weights and recovery papers yourself and add the kilograms to your inventory.
Sources: IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 3 Chapter 7 (Section 7.6, Equation 7.17)
Last reviewed 2026-11-05. The rates are the Guidelines' 2006 estimates. A service contractor's own leak test figure is better evidence if you hold one.