The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report Sept. 21 celebrating the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership’s (GreenChill) 15th anniversary that highlights Partner achievements in supermarket refrigerant management.
EPA also presented the annual GreenChill awards for achievements made during the 2021 program year at FMI’s Energy and Store Development Conference in Orlando, Florida. Hy-Vee, based in Des Moines, Iowa, was recognized for Superior Goal Achievement, achieving its annual refrigerant emissions reduction goal, which was even lower than the previous year’s rate.
This year, GreenChill honored 13 supermarket industry organizations and one advanced refrigeration system manufacturer for exceptional achievements in effectively managing refrigerants and reducing emissions of ozone-depleting substances and high global warming-potential gases, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), to reduce the impacts of commercial refrigeration systems on the environment.
“As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of GreenChill, I want to thank our Partners for the leadership they have shown in choosing to go above and beyond to reduce refrigerant emissions,” said Joe Goffman, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “Their commitment over the past decade and a half has resulted in huge benefits to the climate system and the ozone layer. As we continue phasing down climate-damaging HFCs under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, we look to industry leaders like our GreenChill Partners to once again lead the way with the technological innovation and creativity needed to tackle this hurdle.”
Since its founding in 2007, GreenChill has grown from 10 Partners representing about 4,500 stores to 33 food retail Partners representing over one-third of all U.S. supermarkets, or over 13,000 stores. On average, GreenChill food retailers maintain emissions rates that are approximately half the industry average. Over the past 15 years, Partners have avoided emissions of over 500 metric tons of ozone-depleting substances and roughly 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is roughly equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from consuming over 11 billion gallons of gasoline.
Each year, EPA recognizes GreenChill Partners for outstanding refrigerant management at both the corporate level and the individual store certification level.
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