Join GreenChill

The GreenChill Partnership welcomes the following members:

Food retailers (e.g. supermarkets, grocery stores, supercenters, and wholesale clubs),
Manufacturers of Advanced Refrigeration Systems (Secondary Loop & Distributed), and
Refrigerant manufacturers.

To be eligible for GreenChill membership, these organizations must use advanced refrigeration technologies, strategies, or practices that reduce emissions of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

Why Join the GreenChill Partnership?

Benefits of the GreenChill Partnership include:

Environmental benefits. The Partnership helps the environment by decreasing the impact of supermarket refrigeration systems on the ozone layer and climate change;
Benchmarking. A benchmarking system allows partners to evaluate their progress toward environmental goals in relation to their peers;
Recognition and Awards. Awards are given by EPA to recognize outstanding achievements by partners;
Publicity, marketing, and outreach. Partners have access to a variety of marketing materials to highlight their participation in the GreenChill Partnership;
Assistance with environmental strategies and goals. GreenChill assists Partners in developing and attaining corporate environmental stewardship and sustainability goals, with tools such as best practice guidelines and information on improved technology and servicing practices that help reduce refrigerant charges and leak rates;
Opportunities for information sharing among partners. GreenChill holds regular meetings to facilitate partner information sharing on successful emissions reduction strategies and advances in refrigeration technology; and
Research. Partners have access to state-of-the-art EPA research, including a theoretical study on advanced refrigeration technologies and EPA/industry field tests on substitute refrigerants and advanced refrigeration technologies.

GreenChill partnerships take effect when a Partnership Agreement is signed by the authorized representatives of the Partner and EPA. The agreement outlines the goals and responsibilities that the partner must meet. These goals and responsibilities vary slightly, depending on the partner.

Supermarket partners must be willing to:

Establish a base year from which to begin reporting an inventory of corporate-wide refrigerant stock and emissions. The base year may be the year in which this agreement is signed or up to two years prior;
By the end of the first year of entry into the Program, and each year thereafter, complete and submit an annual corporate-wide inventory of both ODS and non-ODS refrigerant stock and emissions (aggregate, not by facility) and describe technologies and practices implemented to reduce emissions;
Develop and submit to EPA a corporate Refrigerant Management Plan within one year of joining the Program. The Partner will work with EPA to set a refrigerant emissions reduction goal, and list technologies and practices that will be economically and technically feasible to achieve the goal;
Commit to using only non-ODS refrigerant substitutes found acceptable under EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program in all commercial refrigeration applications in new construction and store remodels involving rack additions or replacements;
Provide to an independent third-party detailed operational, leak and repair data on installed advanced refrigeration systems (e.g. secondary loop, distributed) and an equivalent number of non-ODS centralized (rack) direct expansion (DX) systems (data will be aggregated, analyzed, and used to evaluate advanced technologies);
Exchange information on Program development/implementation and best practices with other Program partners;
Designate a GreenChill Partnership Representative and notify EPA of any change in the designated liaison; and
Communicate the Program to employees and cooperate with EPA efforts to publicize the Program.

Partners who manufacture Advanced Refrigeration Systems (Secondary Loop & Distributed) must be willing to:

Establish a baseline of equipment leak tightness at production and at installation, and set an annual goal to maintain (if above 99.5%) or improve the leak tightness of equipment at production and installation;
Establish GreenChill-approved industry guidelines on methods to measure equipment leak tightness at production and at installation;
Establish a baseline of annual sales of DX refrigeration systems sold by the Partner vs. advanced refrigeration systems, such as secondary loop systems and distributed refrigeration systems, sold by the partner;
Develop and submit to EPA a corporate Refrigeration Systems Management Plan within one year of joining GreenChill. The Partner will work with EPA to set an annual goal to shift sales from DX systems to advanced refrigeration technologies. This Plan will list activities that will be used to achieve this annual goal;
Establish a GreenChill-approved base year from which to begin reporting the types of refrigerants used in all refrigeration equipment sold by the partner that is used in supermarket refrigeration systems. The base year is usually the year in which this agreement is signed;
Develop and submit to EPA a corporate Refrigerant Report, which details the type of refrigerant used in all equipment sold on an annual basis;
Complete Advanced Refrigeration Technology Guidelines for Supermarkets. These Guidelines must be detailed, step-by-step guidelines. The Guidelines must be peer-reviewed and accepted by EPA’s GreenChill Team and by a GreenChill-approved team of Supermarket representatives;
Establish in 2008 a GreenChill-approved “energy efficiency” measurement for supermarket refrigeration systems, which will be used to set up an annual energy efficiency goal as of the 2009 reporting year for all equipment manufactured by the partner;
Establish a GreenChill-approved energy-efficiency goal as of the 2009 reporting year for all equipment manufactured by the partner. The Partner will work with EPA to set these goals, and list detailed and GreenChill-approved technologies and practices that will be used to achieve these goals;
Evaluate and make appropriate changes to current designs and installation techniques that will reduce refrigerant emissions;
Evaluate and promote means of maintaining converted systems in a manner that reduces emissions of refrigerant substitutes; and
Participate in an industry/government research initiative to assess the performance of cutting edge "green" technologies in terms of energy efficiency, reduction of refrigerant charge, and minimization of refrigerant leaks.

Partners who manufacture refrigerants must be willing to:

Develop retrofit conversion guidelines for R-22 replacement chemicals that are manufactured and/or sold by the partner for supermarket refrigeration systems. These guidelines must be detailed, step-by-step procedures that reduce emissions by specifying recovery of ODS refrigerant and materials capability with existing refrigeration equipment. The guidelines must be peer-reviewed and accepted by EPA’s GreenChill Team, a GreenChill-approved team of Refrigeration Equipment Systems Manufacturers, a GreenChill-approved team of component manufacturers, and a GreenChill-approved team of Supermarket representatives;
Share field tests results of optimal refrigerant replacements for ozone-depleting HCFC-22 refrigerant;
Promote GreenChill-approved retrofit procedures over “drop-in” replacements;
Identify ways to minimize emissions of both the conventional ozone-depleting refrigerants and their substitutes;
Evaluate and promote means of maintaining converted systems in a manner that reduces emissions of refrigerant substitutes;
Use their refrigerant distribution network to: a) promote the collection and reclamation or destruction of stockpiles of ozone-depleting refrigerants that are recovered from conventional and converted refrigeration systems; and b) report to US EPA the quantities of refrigerant or substitutes reclaimed or destroyed each year;
Establish a GreenChill-approved base year from which to begin reporting the amount of HCFC-22 recovered and reclaimed from supermarkets. The base year is usually the year in which this agreement is signed;
Establish a GreenChill-approved base year from which to begin reporting the amount of refrigerants manufactured and sold by the partner that are recovered and reclaimed from supermarkets. The base year is usually the year in which this agreement is signed;
Develop and submit to EPA a corporate Recovery & Reclamation Plan, which, at a minimum, sets a GreenChill-approved annual goal for significant increases in the amount of HCFC-22 recovered and reclaimed, as well as significant increases in the amounts of every refrigerant manufactured or sold to supermarkets by the partner that is recovered and reclaimed. The Partner will work with EPA to set these recovery and reclamation goals, and list detailed and GreenChill-approved technologies and practices that will be used to achieve the goal; and
Participate in industry/government research initiatives to assess the performance of cutting edge, advanced refrigeration technologies that reduce ODS and GHG refrigerant charges and minimize refrigerant leaks.

For more information about joining the GreenChill Partnership and to receive a Standard Partnership Agreement, please contact Keilly Witman at witman.keilly@epa.gov or 202-343-9742.

Join GreenChill

Why Join the GreenChill Partnership?

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