NASRC Releases 2021 Annual Report

Naturally Better Together
Announcing NASRC's 2021 Annual Report

NASRC is proud to release our 2021 Annual Report, Naturally Better Together, which summarizes our collective progress to eliminate the barriers to natural refrigerants in supermarkets. 2021 was filled with global uncertainty, but together with our members and partners, we made unprecedented progress to:

• Offset first costs of natural refrigerant technologies

• Increase natural refrigerant technology options

• Ensure service workforce readiness

• Increase awareness and support for the transition away from HFCs

We hope you take a moment to celebrate our shared accomplishments towards building a naturally better future for supermarket refrigeration. None of this would be possible without your support.

Want to support our work further?

Consider making a tax-deductible donation to NASRC.

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!

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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.

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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.

NASRC Releases 2020 Annual Report

NASRC 2020 Annual Report
Rising To the Challenge Together

2020 was a year filled with new and unfamiliar challenges, but together with our members and partners, we rose to the occasion and ultimately made 2020 our most impactful year yet!

We're proud to share NASRC's 2020 Annual Report, which summarizes the progress we made towards accomplishing our mission to make natural refrigerants a feasible business choice for supermarkets, including:

• Developing and coordinating funding support to offset cost premiums

• Accelerating training for contractors and technicians

• Facilitating new pilot projects and field demonstrations 

• Creating new resources and educational opportunities

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Thank you to our members for making all of our work possible!
Not a member yet? Get involved to be a part of the action.

NASRC AIP Drives $0.9 Million for Nat Refs!

NASRC has secured new funding for natural refrigerant projects through our Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP) Pilot, which was developed to bolster the California Air Resources Board (CARB) F-gas Reduction Incentive Program (FRIP) and accelerate funding resources for natural refrigerants.

AIP Funding Results

Of the 16 recently awarded CARB FRIP grants, 13 grocery projects were funded through the NASRC AIP Pilot and represented $880,000 of the total $1 million awarded!

Other AIP Outcomes

In addition to awarded funds, the AIP Pilot resulted in several other exciting initiatives. Here are some of the other outcomes & next steps:

• New Funding Support Through Carbon Offset Credits
  Through the AIP Pilot, a new funding opportunity emerged that will provide grocers funding for the sale of carbon offset credits from natural refrigerant projects. To develop a scalable market of carbon offset credits, NASRC is launching a pilot and will begin soliciting project submissions in the next few weeks.
  

• Performance Data to Inform Industry Best Practices
  Southern California Edison (SCE) is developing a comprehensive M&V study to evaluate and compare the energy performance of FRIP projects, which include multiple natural refrigerant system types across various climate zones. NASRC will support the design and roll-out of the study and coordinate information sharing throughout the industry.
  

• Technician Training Opportunities
  FRIP awardees will provide technician training opportunities to support a workforce that is trained in the installation and maintenance of natural refrigerant technologies. NASRC will work with grantees and CARB to support the workforce development activities.
  

• Scaled Incentive Opportunities
  The AIP Pilot demonstrated the demand for incentives to offset the costs of natural refrigerant technologies as well as the benefits of incentive programs designed to address other natural refrigerant barriers. NASRC is evaluating lessons from AIP and assessing new opportunities to develop scalable sources of natural refrigerant funding support at a national level.

Have more questions about AIP or natural refrigerant incentive opportunities? Contact us.

NASRC's Top 10 Accomplishments In 2020

2020 has had its challenges, but thanks to tremendous participation and support from our members, NASRC made more progress towards our mission to eliminate the barriers to natural refrigerants than ever before.

Check out our top 10 collective accomplishments in 2020!

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1. Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP) Pilot

Launched Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP) to coordinate multiple sources of funding support for natural refrigerant projects in food retail applications through a streamlined application process.

2. Low-GWP & Energy Efficiency Expo

Convened 200+ supermarket refrigeration, energy management, and regulatory stakeholders for a 2-day event (pre-COVID) to accelerate progress towards a low-GWP and energy efficient future for supermarkets.

3. California HFC Regulations for Stationary Refrigeration

Facilitated the development of the alternate HFC regulatory proposal for stationary refrigeration in California with a retailer group representing the majority of supermarket locations in the state.

4. Carbon Financing Pilot

Developed a Carbon Financing Pilot to create a market for the supply & demand of refrigerant carbon-offset credits and ultimately leverage revenue from the sale of credits to offset the upfront costs of natural refrigerant projects.

5. CO2 Curriculum Development for Schools

Kicked off the development of 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.

6. Natural Refrigerant Technology Series & Library

Hosted an eight-week webinar series that included nineteen webinars featuring the latest natural refrigerant technologies. Developed our Natural Refrigerant Technology Library to host recordings on-demand at no cost.

7. Natural Refrigerant Contractor Directory

Created a downloadable Contractor Directory to help food retailers find installation & service contractors trained in natural refrigerants, which can be filtered by refrigerant type and geographic location.

8. Low-GWP Research Studies

Initiated field studies and pilot projects on advanced refrigeration technologies to compile data around energy performance and other ongoing costs of natural and low-GWP refrigerant solutions.

9. New NASRC Resources

Introduced new NASRC resources, including our Member Directory to highlight our members and the services they offer, our Resource Library to equip our network to learned about & advance natural refrigerants, and our Member Resource Library.

10. Education & Awareness

Increased awareness of natural refrigerants as a leading climate solution to expand support for the transition. Leveraged new educational platforms, such as the How To Save A Planet podcast and the TEDxReImagineScience event.

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Thank you to our members who are the driving force behind all of these achievements!
We look forward to building on the momentum we've created together in 2021.