North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council Welcomes Lowe Corporation as Gold Level Member

MILL VALLEY, Calif.—The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants in supermarkets, announces its newest Gold-level member, Lowe Corporation. A collective of 5 pioneering brands comprised of Lowe Rental, LoweConex, Abbey Design Associates (ADA), Portal Kitchens Limited (PKL) and Rental+ who together are committed to delivering sustainable rental services.

Lowe Rental's unique offering, RaaS (Refrigeration as a Service), provides self-contained propane (R290) refrigeration cases. These act as temporary solutions for retailers transitioning to natural refrigerants, minimizing store disruptions and maintaining customer experiences. 

“Our retail services enabled one of the world’s largest retailers to convert stores across the USA to CO2 refrigeration by 2040 without the closure of store locations or disruption to customer sales. Allowing their organization to meet legislated requirements while maintaining 97% of store revenue,” said Kyle Payne, Head of Retail Sales USA for Lowe Rental.

This is an important solution amidst the phase-out of commonly used hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (HFCs), which are extremely potent greenhouse gases and one of the leading drivers of climate change. Natural refrigerants like CO2, ammonia, and propane have near-zero global warming potential, making them climate-friendly and future-proof natural alternatives to HFCs.

Transitioning to these alternatives, however, requires a costly full system replacement. Stand-alone R290 cases like those available through Lowe Rental offer a flexible solution that enables a gradual transition and reduces store down time. Lowe Rental’s retail services offering is also supported by refrigeration design consultants, Abbey Design Associates, and LoweConex, an asset control technology to monitor refrigerants and detect leaks. This combination provides a holistic solution to support refrigeration infrastructure upgrades.

“As a trusted partner to multi-national retailers across the USA and around the world, we have seen a dynamic shift towards natural refrigerants and energy efficient refrigeration that enables retailers to minimize their environmental impact,” said Richard Epton, Chief Operating Officer USA for Lowe Rental. “It was imperative we partnered with NASRC to play a vital role in addressing barriers to adoption head on, participating in collective discussion to accelerate meaningful action within the retail industry.

By working with stakeholders from virtually every sector of the grocery refrigeration industry, NASRC is leading efforts to accelerate the transition to natural refrigerants. Its membership network represents over 51,000 US food retail locations as well as service contractors, manufacturers and suppliers, consultants, engineering firms, utilities, trade associations, nonprofits, and schools.

“Lowe Corporation’s investment in an NASRC membership demonstrates a strong commitment to advancing natural refrigerants,” said Danielle Wright, NASRC Executive Director. “We’re thrilled to welcome them to our network and look forward to collaborating with them to drive solutions for the industry and the climate.”

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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.

About Lowe Corporation 

Established 1977 in Northern Ireland, Lowe Corporation has continued to lead and innovate rental solutions for refrigeration and foodservice equipment around the world. Today under five owned brands and operating from eighteen locations throughout UK, USA, Asia and Europe, Lowe brings together an award-winning suite of equipment rental solutions, industry redefining IoT technology and recognised global refrigeration expertise that empowers its customers to achieve their financial and environmental goals.  For more information visit www.lowerental.com, www.abbeydesignassociates.com, www.loweconex.com.

NASRC Releases NEW Policy Resources!

Building Your Policy Toolbox
New NASRC Resources

2022 marks the start of new HFC regulatory requirements at the state and federals levels. We're pleased to announce TWO new resources to help our members and partners stay up-to-date of on the latest policy information:

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HFC Policies & Refrigerant Regulations by State

Amidst increasing regulatory pressures at the state and federal levels, we know it can be difficult to stay on top of new and changing regulations. This new tool tracks state and federal regulatory activities, and includes:

• Interactive map of regulatory status by state

• Summary of regulatory details by state

• Overview of federal refrigerant regulations

• Printable PDF summary

Alternative Refrigerants for Commercial Refrigeration

As the first step of the U.S. HFC phase-down takes effect, the supermarket industry is seeking clarity on alternative refrigerant options and their current approval status. This tool provides a high-level summary of current and future refrigerant options for U.S. commercial refrigeration applications, including:

• Stationary Refrigeration Remote Systems

• Remote Condensing Units

• Self-Contained Refrigerated Cases

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This release is kicking off a larger educational resource initiative we recently launched. Stay tuned for more new resource and contact us with questions.

Top 5 Takeaways From The Sustainable Refrigeration Summit

We recently hosted the first-ever Sustainable Refrigeration Summit, bringing together supermarket refrigeration stakeholders, government agencies, and policymakers to address the challenges to achieving zero emissions in supermarket refrigeration.

NASRC members can now access the session slides and recordings in our Member Resource Library, but we've also compiled our top 5 takeaways from the Summit below:

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1. Natural refrigerants are becoming standard in new stores
A growing number of food retailers are choosing natural refrigerants in new store construction. However there are still challenges that need to be addressed, and given the very low rate of new construction we can't achieve zero emissions without addressing existing stores.

2. Existing stores need more solutions
Existing stores represent the greatest opportunity for HFC emissions reduction, but also the greatest challenge. Retailers need more solutions in the market to modularly transition existing facilities, such as natural refrigerant condensing units and codes and standards updates to allow a higher R290 charge limit.

3. Service workforce is a limiting factor
Even if all other barriers were removed, service workforce constraints will significantly limit the rate of the transition away from HFCs. There is a need for workforce development solutions to build a robust technician workforce with access to natural refrigerant training.

4. Funding is needed to accelerate the transition
Upfront cost premiums of natural refrigerant technologies remain one of the leading barriers in both new and existing stores. There is a need for new funding sources to support and accelerate the transition, especially for small and independent food retailers.

5. Effective policies can remove challenges
Increasing regulatory pressures at the state and federal levels are driving the transition to low-GWP and natural refrigerant technology solutions. Effective policies can address challenges and support the transition to move the industry forward together.

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Most importantly, it was clear across the summit that solutions to these challenges will required a coordinated effort with all stakeholders. NASRC is leading that effort together with our members and partners.

Contact us to get involved.

Nonprofit Report Demonstrates Food Retailer Demand for Natural Refrigerant Condensing Units

Survey Highlights Opportunity to Transition Existing Facilities to Climate-Friendly Refrigerants

Mill Valley, California — The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working in partnership with the supermarket industry to advance the use of climate-friendly natural refrigerants, has released a report summarizing US food retailer preferences for natural refrigerant-based condensing unit technologies.

“The most significant takeaway from the report is that it demonstrates a strong demand for natural refrigerant-based condensing unit technologies in the US, with 100 percent of participating retailers indicating interest,” comments Danielle Wright, executive director of North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council.

NASRC conducted a survey of 13 major food retailers representing more than 17,000 US locations to characterize retailer demand for natural refrigerant-based condensing units. The report summarizes retailer preferences for CO2-and-propane-based condensing unit product applications, load type and corresponding capacity ranges (MBTUs), condensing medium, as well as other considerations and requirements.

Another key finding is the potential for existing stores, with almost 80% of retailers surveyed were interested in condensing unit applications for existing stores. The majority indicated a preference for CO2-based condensing units to serve medium temperature refrigerated display cases.

“The real challenge is how to accelerate emissions reduction in the 38,000 stores that exist today,” said Danielle Wright, NASRC executive director. “We need solutions that can be phased in as part of the normal equipment replacement schedule and serve the refrigeration capacity expansion that is happening across the food retail sector today due to the rise in online shopping.”

Food retailers are facing increasing regulatory pressures at the international, federal, and state levels to transition to climate-friendly natural refrigerants, including ammonia, CO2, and propane. Today, the vast majority of stores are using hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants, which are considered super greenhouse gases and have thousands of times more global warming potential (GWP) than natural refrigerants. Transitioning away from harmful HFCs to natural refrigerants is not so simple as it requires replacing the entire refrigeration system, which is unfeasible from a cost and, many times, technical perspective. Retailers need cost-effective, modular technology options that allow them to migrate their refrigeration loads and displace the existing system over time.

Natural refrigerant-based condensing units, using Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Propane, are an ideal option due to their ability to serve unique load types and reduce overall GWP of the system. Despite increasing interest from food retailers, very few product options are available in the US market compared to Europe and Asia.

“Ultimately, our goal is to bring more natural refrigerant product solutions to the US market,” said Wright. “This report was the first step in bridging the information gap by leveraging our strong network of stakeholders.”

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About North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council

The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants in supermarkets. The organization works with stakeholders from across the supermarket refrigeration industry, including over 28,000 food retail locations in the US, to eliminate the barriers preventing the adoption of natural refrigerants. For additional information, please visit www.nasrc.org.

New CARB Proposal Represents Successful Collaboration with California Retailers

Sacramento, California – At the January California Air Resources Board (CARB) public workshop, CARB announced changes to the proposed rules for stationary refrigeration systems, which were the result of a successful collaboration between CARB and California retailers over the preceding several months.

CARB first announced the rulemaking for the HFC reduction measures - which aim to reduce emissions of Hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (HFCs) typically found in supermarkets - in October of 2017. The rulemaking was driven by California legislation, which established the State’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and specifically to reduce HFC emissions to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030.

The original proposal called for all newly installed refrigeration equipment, whether installed in a new or existing facility, to use refrigerants with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) below 150. Natural refrigerants, such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, and propane are zero or near zero GWP solutions, but are challenging and costly to install in existing facilities because they require a full system replacement.

“The proposed definition for new equipment risked an unintended consequence to halt all upgrade and retrofit work across existing stores to avoid triggering the <150 GWP requirement,” said Danielle Wright, executive director of the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC). “Not only would this be bad business for grocers, but it would have ultimately prevented CARB from achieving their emissions targets.”

Following a public technical working group meeting in August of 2019, several California retailers approached the NASRC with a request to facilitate a different proposal that would come directly from the retailers and still meet CARB’s emissions reduction goals. The retailer group, which represented the majority of supermarket locations in California, convened in late-September to develop an alternative proposal. This new proposal recommended that for the <150 GWP requirement, new equipment be defined solely as new store construction or a complete system replacement.

To compensate for the reduced emissions reductions from the restricted definition of new equipment, the retailers proposed a Greenhouse Gas Potential (GHGp) program for existing stores, designed to reduce overall emissions across a chain while allowing flexibility at the store level. Under the GHGp program, retailers would reduce their emissions through lower-GWP refrigerants, charge reductions, or a combination of both, giving them the flexibility to determine which stores to retrofit to meet the target.

CARB was receptive to the retailer proposal and suggested a target of 55% GHGp reduction from a 2018 baseline by 2030. CARB also proposed an alternative hybrid approach, which would require retailers to meet a chain-wide “weighted-average GWP” target of 1400 by 2030. The intention of both programs was to give retailers the maximum possible flexibility while also ensuring CARB’s emission reduction target is achieved.

To support the transition to low-GWP refrigerants, CARB has established an F-gas Reduction Incentive Program (FRIP), which has received $1 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) for the 2019-20 fiscal year. The program will launch for project solicitation this Summer.

“While this is a great example of a successful collaboration between California retailers and CARB, the regulations still present a challenge for retailers,” said Wright. “The launch of the incentive program is an important step to support the transition to low-GWP refrigerants, and our goal is to help bring more funds to the table.”

This proposal has yet to be finalized by the Board and CARB continues to seek feedback and stakeholder input, which can be sent to HFCReduction@arb.ca.gov or to Richie Kaur at richie.kaur@arb.ca.gov. Comments on FRIP are requested by March 15th and can be submitted to Aanchal Kohli at Aanchal.Kohli@arb.ca.gov. The materials from CARB’s workshop are available here.

For more information, please contact info@nasrc.org.