R290 Charge Limit – Progress & Next Steps

Amidst increasing regulatory pressures at the state and federal levels, a growing number of US food retailers are looking to natural refrigerants – including carbon dioxide, ammonia, and propane – as future-proof options. Propane solutions offer opportunities for new and existing stores, but innovation has been limited due to the current allowable charge size of 150g per circuit in self-contained cases. Much of the industry is anxiously awaiting the approval of higher charge sizes for propane through codes and standards due to potential energy, capacity, and cost benefits.

2019 marked a turning point when the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60336-2-89 standard was updated to increase the charge limit for A3 refrigerants - including R-290 (Propane) and R-600a (Isobutane) - to 500g at the international level. After the publication of the updated IEC standard, a CANENA technical harmonization committee led a harmonization effort that resulted in an updated UL-60335-2-89 (UL 2-89) standard allowing up to 300g per circuit in cases with doors and 500g per circuit in open cases. The updated standard has been finalized and was published last Wednesday, October 27th.

But as new regulations begin to take effect in the US, there is a need to accelerate the approval of the higher charge sizes through other codes and standards updates. We’ve put together a brief summary of the status and next steps for each of the remaining updates needed for the widespread approval of higher propane charge limits in the US:

ASHRAE 15

• Status: In Progress

• Summary: The ASHRAE 15 committee has drafted an addendum to approve the higher charge sizes in alignment with UL 2-89 for listed equipment. The addendum is expected to be released for a public comment period in the near future.

• Next Steps: NASRC will continue to monitor the standard update.

EPA SNAP

• Status: In Progress

• Summary: Multiple applications have been submitted to the EPA to approve the higher charge sizes in alignment with UL 2-89. The EPA has been unable to process those applications without a published standard that incorporates the higher charge sizes. Now that the updated UL 2-89 standard has been published, the EPA can begin to process applications to approve the higher charge sizes.

• Next Steps: NASRC will push for accelerated approval of higher charge sizes.

Building Codes

• Status: In Progress

• Summary: Building codes are typically updated in accordance with international building code updates. Currently, the international building codes do not align with the higher charge sizes listed in UL 2-89, but there will be an opportunity to update the international codes to reflect the new UL 2-89 in early 2022. Once the international codes have been updated, a state-by-state effort to update building codes will be necessary. This will be the biggest and most time-consuming challenge to get the higher charge sizes approved.

• Next Steps: NASRC will collaborate with AHRI and a coalition of other NGOs to ensure the international codes are updated and accelerate building code updates at the state level. Contact us to get involved.

NASRC's Incentive Program Drives $880,000 for Climate-Friendly Grocery Stores

Mill Valley, California - The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working in partnership with the grocery industry to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants, recently announced that they have secured a total of $880,000 in funding support for natural refrigerant grocery projects through their Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP) Pilot.

“We launched the AIP program to support grocers facing increasing regulatory pressure to transition away from HFC refrigerants,” said Danielle Wright, NASRC Executive Director. “Incentives have the power to offset cost premiums and make natural refrigerants a feasible business choice for grocers.”

Launched in 2020, NASRC’s AIP Pilot was a first-of-its-kind, no cost platform through which NASRC coordinated incentive funding for natural refrigerant projects in California grocery stores. The pilot was designed to bolster the California Air Resources Board (CARB) F-gas Reduction Incentive Program (FRIP), which was established to support the transition to climate-friendly refrigerants resulting from CARB’s HFC reduction measures that take effect on Jan 1, 2022.

“NASRC’s assistance was critical in obtaining the FRIP funding,” said Jay Schick, Refrigeration and HVAC Buyer at Costco, a FRIP awardee and AIP Pilot participant. “We hope to see the program grow in the future as this is key to accelerating our transition from HFC refrigerants.”

FRIP is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities. FRIP was established to address the fact that upfront costs remain a significant hurdle for grocers to transition to low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.

Recently, CARB awarded FRIP grants to 15 grocery projects across California, 12 of which were funded through the NASRC AIP Pilot and represented $880,000 of the total $1 million awarded. The projects funded through the AIP Pilot will use climate-friendly natural refrigerants with near-zero GWP, such as CO2 and propane.

The grants will support innovative projects, including partial transitions to natural refrigerants in four existing Whole Foods Market facilities. Because natural refrigerants are not a “drop-in” solution, they require a full system replacement rather than a simple gas retrofit, representing a much greater challenge for grocers. “There’s no straightforward solution for replacing HFC equipment,” said Mike Ellinger, Principal Program Manager of Engineering, Compliance & Sustainability at Whole Foods Market. “The FRIP funding will allow us to test several innovative approaches and the results will inform our strategy for existing stores in the future.”

ALDI, another national chain grocer, received awards for seven projects through the AIP Pilot, four of which are located in disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately impacted by the changing climate. "The funding ALDI receives through FRIP supports our continued dedication to natural refrigerant technology,” said Dan Gavin, ALDI Vice President of National Real Estate. “At ALDI, we continue to explore new ways to lower our carbon footprint, and we are particularly excited about the energy data we will receive from this outstanding program."

In addition to the grants, FRIP awardees will participate in data sharing and service workforce development activities, further addressing barriers that are slowing the adoption of natural refrigerants in the US. NASRC is supporting the implementation of these activities as part of their AIP Pilot.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the FRIP funding was not renewed in the California 2021 fiscal year budget. NASRC is advocating for the program to receive additional funding in the future to support full or partial system replacements in existing stores. There will be opportunities to submit comments in support of renewed FIRP funding later this year, but in the meantime NASRC is thinking bigger.

“Our goal with the pilot was always to expand beyond California,” said Wright. “Given the upcoming federal HFC phasedown, there is a need for national funding support to aid the transition. That’s where we’re looking next.”    

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About North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council
The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) is a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working in partnership with the grocery refrigeration industry to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by traditional refrigerants. The organization works with stakeholders from across the grocery refrigeration industry, including over 38,000 food retail locations, to eliminate the barriers preventing the adoption of natural refrigerants. For more information, visit www.nasrc.org.

NASRC Expo Drives Progress for Energy Efficient and Low-GWP Technologies

Irwindale, California – On January 15th and 16th, the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) and Southern California Edison (SCE) co-hosted the first-ever Low-GWP & Energy Efficiency Expo, which brought together supermarket refrigeration, energy management, and regulatory stakeholders to explore the latest commercial refrigeration technologies offering both low global warming potential (GWP) and energy efficiency benefits.  

These technologies are of growing interest to the supermarket industry, in-part due to pending California regulations that were developed in response to the State’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and reduce hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. HFCs are of particular interest because they are extremely potent GHGs with thousands of times more warming potential than CO2, and have been named the fastest growing sources of GHG emissions globally.

To meet these goals, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed new refrigerant regulations that will require retailers to reduce their emissions by transitioning to lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. The State’s ambitious GHG emission reduction targets will also require a decrease in indirect emissions from energy use, which has led to changes in state energy mandates.

Because supermarkets are more electricity-intensive than any other commercial building type and the refrigeration system makes up the largest electricity load in most supermarkets, both the energy use (indirect emissions) and global warming potential (GWP) of the refrigerants (direct emissions) must be addressed to maximize GHG emissions reductions. As a result, these state energy mandates and refrigerant regulations have significant implications for California grocers.

“Grocers are caught between increasing pressures to transition to low-GWP refrigerants and simultaneously reduce their energy use,” said Danielle Wright, executive director of the NASRC. “As a result there is a growing need for refrigeration technologies that are both low-GWP and energy efficient, which is why we created this expo event.”

The expo featured 28 exhibitors offering low-GWP and energy efficient technology solutions, as well as a series of technomercial and case study presentations that highlighted specific solutions (see featured solutions here). Technology options for existing facilities were especially of interest, in-part because existing facilities represent the greatest potential for emissions reductions.

Despite the opportunity for emissions reduction, existing facilities also present the greatest challenge for retailers due to high costs, business impacts, and a lack of available technology options to modularly transition to low-GWP refrigerants. To address this challenge, Tom Wolgamot of DC Engineering and Rob Arthur of Cushing Terrell teamed up in one of the sessions to explore a series of design options to incorporate low-GWP refrigerants into existing stores. See their presentation here.

The Expo event also featured an Emerging Technologies “Shark Tank” session that highlighted the newest innovations in commercial refrigeration, a session that highlighted the new proposed measures for the California energy code and latest trends in utility programs, and a regulatory update from CARB on their HFC reduction measures and incentive program.

Two recurring themes throughout the event were the need for both regulatory coordination and funding support to achieve GHG emissions reduction targets. Cost remains the greatest barrier to advancing these technologies, especially in existing facilities. As a result there is a considerable need for funding assistance to support the transition to low-GWP refrigerants. Collaboration between the industry and regulators can also reduce the burden of transitioning, and even lead to more effective regulations.

The NASRC plans to build on the momentum of this event to address the challenges preventing a low-GWP and energy efficient future for supermarket refrigeration and to coordinate funding sources for low-GWP technology installations. 

“This event laid the groundwork for key solutions that will lead to significant progress for the industry, and NASRC is uniquely positioned to drive these forward solutions with our members and partners.” said Wright. “That’s exactly what we were formed to do.”

For more information or to get involved in the solutions, visit www.nasrc.org.