User:Mcgratsp/GreenChill

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The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA)program geared at aligning the EPA and the supermarket industry and other stakeholders towards the reduction of refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases. To accomplish its goals this voluntary partnership promotes supermarkets' adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies. GreenChill is continually growing in membership, and garnering positive recognition.

Overview
GreenChill is a voluntary partnership created and operated by the (AERB), part of the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Division (SPD) under the authority of the U.S.EPA. Being part of AERB meant GreenChill's purpose was to provide another means of reducing ozone-depleting substances. GreenChill specifically targets the supermarket industry and its refrigeration technology. Supermarkets who become partners work with the EPA to reduce refrigerant charges, transition to non-ozone depleting refrigerants, reduce both ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerant emissions, and promote supermarkets' adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies.(1) GreenChill began with just 10 supermarket partners:  Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Publix Super Markets, Hannaford Brothers, DuPont, Whole Foods Market, Giant Eagle, Hill Phoenix, Honeywell, and Kysor//Warren.(5)  GreenChill's evergrowing list of supermarket partners can be found on its EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/greenchill/gcpartners.html (2)

Background
There are approximately 34,000 retail food establishments (supermarkets, wholesale clubs, grocery stores, etc...) in the U.S. and a majority of them use hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), specifically HCFC-22, also known as R-22, as their primary refrigerant.(3) Of these supermarkets 70% use "direct expansion (DX) refrigeration system" to chill their products. The DX system uses large charges of refrigerant and have leak rates, often above 20% of their charge per year.(4) Thus, supermarkets end up leaking large amounts of HCFCs, which are ozone-depleting substances (ODSs), into the stratosphere anually.(3) Supermarkets will also use blends that consist entirely or primarily of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), another ODS.(4)  HCFCs and HFCs can also be classified as greenhouse gases.(4)

Under the Clean Air Act (CAA) (CFR Part 82, Subpart A) and the Montreal Protocol ozone depleting substances like HCFC-22 are set to be phased-out of production and import in the U.S. by January 1, 2020.(3) Section 608 of the CAA says there are mandatory leak repair requirements for owners of supermarket refrigeration equipment that leaks more than 35% of its ODS.(3)  Section 612 of the CAA provides that alternatives will be used for supermarkets using refirgerants with ODS.(3)  Meeting these statutory requirements to reduce refrigerant charge and emissions is possible with the several options in refrigeration technologies for supermarkets.(4)  Aside from the traditional DX system, there also exists the Distributed and Secondary Loop systems. Secondary Loop systems, for example, has a annual leak rate of only 2-15% compared to the 15-30% from DX systems.(4) GreenChill was thus created to encourage supermarkets to move away from refrigeration technologies leaking ODS before they are phased-out and the schedules under the CAA and Montreal Protocol require replacements.(3)

The original 10 supermarkets joined with the EPA on November 27, 2007 to launch GreenChill, with an eye towards not only helping with enivronmental improvement compliance but so they could save money in the future.(3) The EPA predicts widespread adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies and the use of the best refrigeraton practices to reduce refrigerant and emissions by one million metric tons of carbon equivalent per year.(5)  The EPA also believes that GreenChill will ave money for its partners by adopting new refrigeration technologies that will lead to increased energy effieciency and reduce operating expenses to the industry by over $2 million annually.(5)

Partners
Supermarkets become partners by signing Partnership Agreements with the EPA, outlining the goals and responsibilities they must meet as partners. While these goals may vary slightly depending on the partner, there are several basic requirements that supermarkets must fulfill when signing on with GreenChill. Among these tasks is to annually complete and submit corporate-wide inventory of both ODS and non-ODS refrigerant stock and emissions, along with a description of the practices and technology used to reduce the emissions. Within the first year of joining a supermarket must work with the EPA to develop and submit a Refrigerant Management Plan, which will set refrigerant emissions reduction goals, and list technologies that will be economically and technically feasible to achieve the goals. Also, supermarket partners must commit to using only non-ODS refrigerant substitutes that are acceptable under the EPA's Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program in construction of their new stores. Partners must also be willing to exchange information on program development and implementation, and the best practices used amongst each other.

Additionally, partners who manufacture Advanced Refrigeration Systems (Secondary Loop and Distributed) and partners who manufacture refrigerants have other requirements in GreenChill.

These partners manufacturing Advanced Refrigeration Systems must establish a baseline of equipment leak tightness at production and at installation, GreenChill approved industry guidelines on how to determine leak tightness, an energy efficiency goal for all equipment manufactured annually starting in 2009 (with the help of the EPA, who will list detailed and GreenChill approved technologies to help achieve these goals), a GreenChill-approved base year to begin reporting the types of refrigrerants used in all refrigeration equipment sold that is used in supermarket refrigeration systems, and a baseline of annual DX refrigeration sales versus Advanced Refrigeration Systems sold. These manufacturers will be responsible for developing and submitting to the EPA a corporate Refrigeration Management Plan to shift DX system sales to ART. Another corporate report they are responsible for submitting is one that deatils the type of refrigerant used in all equipment sold on an annual basis. They must evaluate and make appropriate changes in design and installation techniques to reduce emissions, as well as promote means of maintaining converted system to continue emission reductions. Yet another report they responsible for is the complete ART Guidelines for Supermarkets, which are to be detailed step-by-step guidelines that must be peer reviewed and accepted by EPA's GreenChill team and a GreenChill -approved team of supermarket representatives. Finally, ART manufacturers are required to participate in a research initiative with the government to asses the performance of "green" technologies.

Those manufacturing the refrigerants must be willing to fulfill similar requirements to ART manufacturers, such as participating in industry/government research, but their focus is on ODS and GHG emissions. Not only must they develop retrofit conversion guidelines for R-22 replacement chemicals that are manufactured and/or sold by the partner for supermarket refrigeration systems, they must also develop and submit an EPA corporate Recovery and Reclamation Plan that sets a GreenChill approved annual goal for significant increases in the amount of HCFC-22 recovered and reclaimed and for significant increases in the amounts of every refrigerant manufactured or sold to supermarkets by the partner that is recovered and reclaimed. Also, they must establish a GreenChill base-year from which to begin reporting both the amount of refrigerants they manufactured and sold that are recovered and reclaimed from supermarkets, and the amount of HCFC-22 recovered and reclaimed from supermarkets. Other requirements are to share field test's results of optimal refrigerant replacements for ozone-depleting HCFC-22 refrigerant, promote GreenChill retrofit procedures over "drop-in" replacements, identify ways to minimize emissions of both the conventional ozone-depleting refrigerants and their substitutes, and evaluate and promote means of maintaining converted systems in manner that reduces emissions of refrigerant substitutes. Finally, the "use..."

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Recognition
Newsroom Steven Johnson article