California

North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council Announces First-of-Its-Kind Refrigeration Technician Training Event

Co-hosted with Southern California Edison, the event will provide natural refrigerant technician training from multiple manufacturers and industry experts.

MILL VALLEY, California—February 15, 2023—The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants in supermarkets, today announced the first-ever Natural Refrigerant Training Summit in Irwindale, California April 4 – 6, 2023. Created for refrigeration technicians of all experience levels, the event is free to attend and will offer comprehensive training on the latest natural refrigerant technologies.  

The summit was inspired by NASRC’s Workforce Development Assessment Report recommendations, which outlined the commercial refrigeration industry’s increasingly critical technician shortage. Published in January 2023, the report proposed data-driven solutions to improve technician recruitment, training, and retention to grow the workforce.

“A key takeaway from our workforce development assessment was the need to increase training opportunities and prepare technicians for the transition to climate-friendly refrigerants,” said Danielle Wright, executive director of NASRC. “The goal of this event is to provide convenient, comprehensive, and relevant training for technicians to ensure their ongoing success in the future.”

Leading industry experts and manufacturers will provide concurrent training sessions on CO2 fundamentals, CO2 installation, maintenance and troubleshooting, CO2 case controllers, propane (R-290) self-contained cases, and micro-distributed systems. For a complete list of training providers and up-to-date program information, visit nasrc.org/training.

While the training portion of the event is open to refrigeration technicians, local HVACR students are invited to participate in a networking session on April 4 to increase exposure to natural refrigerant technologies and build industry connections.

The training summit is offered free of charge thanks to the generous support of premium event sponsors: AHT Cooling Systems USA, BITZER US, CAREL USA, Climate Pros, CoolSys, Emerson, Hillphoenix, Parker Sporlan, Piping Industry Progress & Education (PIPE), and The Arcticom Group.

Register for the free Natural Refrigerant Training Summit.

About the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council

The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) is a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by traditional HFC refrigerants. We collaborate with stakeholders from across the industry, including over 51,000 food retail locations, to eliminate the barriers to natural refrigerants in supermarkets. For more information, visit nasrc.org, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Announcing Our Nat Ref Summit Trainers!

Announcing Our Expert Trainers!

We're pleased to announce the training providers for the first-ever Natural Refrigerant Training Summit in Irwindale, California. Co-hosted with Southern California Edison (SCE), this free, 3-day event will provide refrigeration technicians with comprehensive training on the latest natural refrigerant technologies. 

Participating technicians can build their own agendas and choose from a variety of concurrent training sessions from the following providers: 

  • Hussmann

  • Kysor Warren

  • Sporlan / Micro Thermo

  • Refrigeration Mentor

  • True Manufacturing

  • Zero Zone

  • AHT Cooling Systems USA

  • BITZER US 

  • CAREL USA

  • Danfoss

  • Emerson

  • Hillphoenix

Space is limited and field technicians will receive registration priority.

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Premium Sponsors

Basic Sponsors

Featured
Arctic Cooling Systems
Kysor Warren
M&M Carnot

Register Now! Natural Refrigerant Training Summit

Training Summit Registration Now Open!

NASRC is proud to offer the first-ever Natural Refrigerant Training Summit in Irwindale, California. Co-hosted with Southern California Edison (SCE), this free, 3-day event will provide comprehensive training for refrigeration technicians on latest natural refrigerant technologies.

Technicians will have access to concurrent trainings from multiple industry experts as well as an exhibit hall showcasing the latest natural refrigerant products and services. Local HVACR students will also be invited to participate in a networking session to increase exposure to our industry.

Space is limited and field technicians will receive registration priority.

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

NASRC's Top 10 Accomplishments In 2021

2021 presented the industry with new challenges, but that didn't stop our members from stepping up to accelerate our mission more than ever before!
Here's a snapshot of our top 10 collective accomplishments from 2021:

Check out our top 10 collective accomplishments in 2021!

1.Sustainable Refrigeration Summit

Hosted the first-ever Sustainable Refrigeration Summit to bring together over 900 supermarket refrigeration stakeholders, government agencies, and policymakers to address the challenges to achieving zero emissions in supermarket refrigeration.

2. Funding Support for Natural Refrigerants

Developed new sources of funding for natural refrigerants: Authored a federal tax credit proposal that is currently in circulation, secured a buyer for our carbon financing pilot, and advanced progress to solidify refrigerant GWP as a metric for utility incentives.

3. Modular Solutions for Existing Facilities

Accelerated technology solutions to enable the modular transition of existing stores to natural refrigerants. Published a report characterizing retailer demand for natural refrigerant-based condensing units to bring more products to the US market. Accelerated the approval of a higher R290 charge limit to increase available self-contained solutions.

4. Workforce Development

Drafted a CO2 curriculum for trade schools & community colleges with ESCO Group, industry stakeholders, and HVACR schools to help build a future workforce that is well-versed in natural refrigerants. Kicked off a workforce development plan to grow the technician workforce.

5. State Incentive Programs

Secured $880,000 in incentives for 12 natural refrigerant projects in California and coordinated the grant deliverables. Mobilized our members and partners to support additional program funding. Worked with other states to share lessons learned and outline future incentive programs.

6. Retailer Leak Reduction Initiative

Formed a Retailer Best Practices Committee to facilitate a retailer-driven leak reduction initiative. Retailers drafted equipment specifications to proactively reduce refrigerant leaks over the lifespan of a system.

7. Pilot Projects & Research Studies

Initiated new field studies and pilot projects on advanced refrigeration technologies to better understand energy performance and other ongoing costs of natural refrigerant solutions. Contributed to the design of a comprehensive M&V study as part of the CARB FRIP grant program.

8. Strengthened Member Network

Grew our membership network to nearly 150 organizations representing over 38,000 food retail locations. Members provided support to NASRC initiatives and participated in member activities, such as Progress Group meetings and monthly End-User Roundtable meetings.

9. Policymaker Engagement

Strengthened relationships with policymakers at the state and federal levels to inform effective policies that address challenges and support the transition to climate-friendly refrigerants. Evidenced by the 60+ policymaker attendees from the federal government and 16 states at our Sustainable Refrigeration Summit.

10. Education & Awareness

Increased awareness of natural refrigerants as a leading climate solution through media coverage, podcast interviews, and other speaking engagements to expand support for the transition away from HFCs.

Thank you to our members, who are behind all of these achievements!
We look forward to building on the momentum we've created together in 2022.

Support California’s $15 Million Incentives for Natural Refrigerants

Incentives.jpeg

NASRC is calling on our members and partners to demonstrate support for the proposed $15 million allocation to refund the California Air Resources Board (CARB) F-gas Reduction Incentive Program (FRIP) for the 2021-22 California budget (see page 9). Without strong demonstrated support from the industry, the proposed funding is at risk of redistribution to other initiatives. 

FRIP was established as part of the California Cooling Act (SB 1013) to alleviate the financial burdens associated with ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants and was allocated $1 million under California’s 2019-20 fiscal year budget. The initial round of funding provided grants for 13 natural refrigerant projects, which NASRC coordinated under our Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP), see all awarded projects here.

Though the first round of funding demonstrated the potential of the program, it only scratched the surface of offsetting the significant cost burden California food retailers face in transitioning away from HFCs. With the capital cost of replacing a supermarket refrigeration system averaging over $1 million, replacing the roughly 4,000 supermarket locations in California equates to $4 billion in capital equipment costs that must be paid by food retailers operating in the state. This cost burden is only expected to increase with increasing regulatory pressures at the state and federal levels.

What’s Needed?

Given adequate funding renewed over a multi-year period, FRIP’s proven framework could go a long way in supporting the transition, but there is no guarantee that the proposed allocations will be approved. While we are pleased to see such a significant increase in the proposed budget compared to the first round, we are concerned that the money could be redistributed to other initiatives if the California legislature does not hear from the industry.

To that end, NASRC has prepared a template letter of support to help our members and partners demonstrate support for the funding. Our goal is to protect and increase the funding allocations in this and subsequent budget cycles so that FRIP can continue to support California food retailers and also provide a blueprint for other states to follow.  

If you are interested to submit a letter of support, please contact us for a template and instructions for submission.

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