Announcing NASRC's 2022 Annual Report

Connecting the Pieces for Sustainable Supermarket Refrigeration

NASRC is proud to release our 2022 Annual Report, Connecting the Pieces, which summarizes our collective progress to advance natural refrigerants in supermarkets. With support from our members and partners, 2022 was marked by tremendous progress to increase:

• Funding options for natural refrigerant technologies

• Natural refrigerant technology options 

• Service workforce readiness

• Education & awareness to support the industry

We hope you take a moment to celebrate our shared accomplishments to connect the pieces for supermarket refrigeration solutions. None of this would be possible without your support. 

Want to support our work further? Consider making a tax-deductible donation to NASRC.

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.

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.

NASRC Launches FREE Natural Refrigerant Technology Library

For a limited time, access free on-demand presentations highlighting the latest natural refrigerant technologies for supermarket and food retail applications! The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) - a 501c3 nonprofit collaborating with the supermarket industry to advance the adoption of natural refrigerants - has launched a first-of-its-kind library of on-demand presentations showcasing natural refrigerant technology solutions for both new and existing supermarket facilities.

Due to the high global warming potential (GWP) of traditional hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (HFCs), supermarkets are facing growing regulatory pressures to transition to low-GWP refrigerant technologies.

Natural refrigerants, including ammonia, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide, are simultaneously the most climate-friendly solution and the most effective way for supermarkets to achieve regulatory compliance. But high upfront costs and other market barriers have prevented their widespread adoption, contributing to uncertainty around the low-GWP technologies that will best meet the needs of each supermarket.

“We heard from our retailer members that there was a lack of information on viable natural refrigerant technology options,” said Danielle Wright, NASRC executive director. “Retailers need to fully understand the benefits and trade-offs of each technology option in order to make sound decisions and effectively navigate increasing refrigerant regulations.”

To address this challenge, NASRC hosted a webinar series in which NASRC members presented on the latest natural refrigerant technology offerings. Presentations focused on options for existing stores, which are especially challenging as they require a costly full or partial system replacement to allow for the use of natural refrigerants. For a limited time, NASRC has made all webinar recordings available on-demand for free in a new Natural Refrigerant Technology Library.

“Our goal with this series was to help supermarkets and their partners learn about natural refrigerant technologies that meet their needs in both new and existing stores,” said Wright. “This information is also critical for policymakers and utilities to make informed decisions that will shape energy and refrigerant regulations.”

View the recordings now to learn about the latest natural refrigerant technology solutions for supermarkets.

NASRC is supported by over 24,000 US supermarket locations and more than 130 organizations representing all sectors of the commercial refrigeration industry. Learn more at their website here: 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.