Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

Major supermarkets today joined with EPA to show that protecting the stratospheric ozone layer is cool -- literally. EPA and the supermarket, refrigeration equipment and chemical refrigerant industries launched the new GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership – a voluntary program to promote green technologies, strategies, and practices that protect the stratospheric ozone layer, reduce greenhouse gases, and save money.

"As Americans make greener choices, we look for companies that support a greener lifestyle," said Robert J. Meyers, principal deputy assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "The GreenChill logo is a clear sign of a supermarket's environmental commitment. It shows that GreenChill members are doing their utmost to save the ozone layer."

The ten GreenChill founding partners are: Whole Foods Market; Food Lion, LLC; Giant Eagle Inc.; Hannaford Bros. Co.; Harris Teeter; Hill PHOENIX; Honeywell International; Kysor//Warren; Publix Super Markets Inc.; and DuPont.

These partners, as well as those in the future, must pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements by establishing an inventory of current refrigerant emissions that may affect climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer, and then setting reduction targets for these emissions. Partners will also participate in an industry/government research initiative to assess the performance of cutting edge "green" technologies in terms of energy efficiency, reduction of ozone-depleting refrigerant charges, and minimization of refrigerant leaks.

As an example of GreenChill Partnership initiatives that decrease the impact of supermarkets on climate change, EPA estimates that widespread adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies, best practices, and improved equipment design and service could reduce refrigerant emissions by one million metric tons of carbon equivalent per year, the equivalent of taking 800,000 automobiles off the road every year.

To counteract the depletion of stratospheric ozone, which protects earth's citizens from the sun's ultraviolet radiation, partners guarantee to use only ozone-friendly alternatives and advanced refrigeration techologies in all new and remodeled stores.

EPA believes that GreenChill partners' adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies will lead to increased energy efficiency and reduce operating expenses to the industry by over $12 million annually.

More information is online at: epa.gov/ozone/partnerships/greenchill

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) www.EPA.gov
Press Release November 27, 2007
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/names/hq_2007-11-27_greenchill