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.

Fazio Mechanical Brings Service Readiness Expertise as New NASRC Gold Member

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Fazio Mechanical Services has joined the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) as a gold member. The NASRC is an action-oriented 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to removing the barriers slowing the adoption of natural refrigerants in supermarkets to create a more climate-friendly future for refrigeration.

NASRC drives their mission forward with tremendous support from the supermarket refrigeration industry, including over 24,000 supermarket locations, major equipment manufacturers, service contractors, and other industry stakeholders. The organization is structured to leverage the expertise of their members to implement initiatives that will advance natural refrigerants.

 The primary barriers that the organization currently focuses on include upfront and ongoing costs of natural refrigerant technologies, uncertainty around lifecycle costs, and availability of service technicians who are qualified to handle natural refrigerants. Fazio Mechanical Services brings a new expertise to the organization to help drive progress on what the organization calls ‘service readiness.’

“There are a number of factors contributing to the service readiness barrier,” said Danielle Wright, executive director of the NASRC. “Not only is the technician workforce shrinking, but we also see a shortage of training resources and programs for technicians starting with school HVACR programs and continuing into the field. We are excited to work with Fazio Mechanical Services to implement solutions to address this challenge.”

Fazio Mechanical Services is a full-service mechanical contracting company specializing in the design, engineering, installation, and service of supermarket refrigeration systems. Founded in 1988 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company has grown to be the largest refrigeration contractor in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland. The company also operates in & serves West Virginia and Virginia.

Fazio Mechanical have demonstrated a great commitment to ensuring adequate training for their technicians. They have invested in training their workforce through partnerships with OEM’s, technical institutes, union apprenticeship programs, and internal training programs.

“Fazio Mechanical Services is fully committed to collaboration with our business partners to implement environmentally friendly refrigeration solutions that help reduce carbon footprints as well as mitigate climate change,” said Ross Fazio, president of Fazio Mechanical. “On behalf of our team, we are excited to join NASRC to be able to have more of an industry impact regarding a sustainable environment for the future.”

“We could not do the work that we do without the support of committed industry leaders like Fazio Mechanical Services,” said Wright. “We look forward to partnering with them to continue to drive industry progress and level the playing field for natural refrigerants.”

More information about Fazio Mechanical is available at www.faziomechanical.com.