EPA Recognizes Illinois Grocer as GreenChill Celebrates 15 Years

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report last week 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, Fla. 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.

2022 GreenChill Corporate Partner Awardees:

Superior Goal Achievement

• Hy-Vee (Des Moines, Iowa)
• Ashland Food Co-Op (Ashland, Ore.)
• BJ's (Westborough, Mass.)
• Coborn's Inc. (St. Cloud, Minn.)
• Food Lion (Salisbury, N.C.)
• The GIANT Company (Carlisle, Pa.)
• Giant Eagle (Pittsburg)
• Meijer (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
• Target (Minneapolis)

Exceptional Goal Achievement

• Ashland Food Co-Op (Ashland, Ore.)
• Coborn's Inc. (St. Cloud, Minn.)
• Giant Eagle (Pittsburg)
• Meijer (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Best Corporate Emissions Rate

• Ashland Food Co-Op (Ashland, Ore.)
• Meijer (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

Most Improved Emissions Rate

• PCC Community Markets (Seattle)
• Weis Markets (Sunbury, Pa.)

2022 GreenChill Store Certification Program Awardees:

Store Leadership

Target's Vista, Calif., location was honored for its innovative design as the company's first net-zero energy store. (Target has applied for net-zero certification from the International Future Living Institute.) The pursuit of this certification is a first among GreenChill-certified stores.

Store Certification Excellence

• ALDI (Batavia, Ill.) -- ALDI certified 505 stores at the Platinum Level. This is the highest number of Platinum-level stores certified in one year by any company in GreenChill's history.
• Hillphoenix (Conyers, Ga.) -- Installed the most systems in GreenChill-certified stores in 2021. This is the 10th consecutive year that Hillphoenix has won this award.

Store Recertification Excellence

• Sprouts Farmers Market -- One store in Whittier, Calif., achieved GreenChill store certification for 10 consecutive years. Seventeen additional Sprouts Farmers Market stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee earned recognition for five consecutive years of certification.
• ALDI -- Twenty-one stores across California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia achieved GreenChill store certification for five consecutive years.
• Weis Markets -- Two stores in Maryland achieved GreenChill store certification for five consecutive years.
• Meijer -- One store in Indiana achieved GreenChill store certification for five consecutive years.
• Target -- One store in Minnesota achieved GreenChill store certification for five consecutive years.

GreenChill is a voluntary partnership program that works cooperatively with the food retail industry to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the environment. Leaky systems can come at a high price, requiring retailers to pay for replacement refrigerant, system maintenance, and repairs. Reducing leaks is also beneficial to the environment, as some refrigerants deplete the stratospheric ozone layer and are potent greenhouse gases. In addition to reducing leaks, GreenChill participants are leaders in transitioning to environmentally friendlier refrigerants and adopting advanced refrigeration technologies.