Category: Blog

  • Bidding Adieu to R-22

    First published in Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer Magazine June 2015 But which new refrigerant, and when? Competing goals lead to indecision. Now that the Environmental Protection Agency has finalized the country’s R-22 phaseout plan, super­market refrigeration teams are trying to come to some conclusions about when and how to get out of R-22. The decision has…

  • Future-Proof Your Refrigeration

    First published in Fresh Thinking June 2015 People ask me all the time if the EPA is ever going to get off their backs about the refrigerant they use. My answer is always the same: The only way that will happen is if the industry stops using refrigerants that harm the environment. For the first time…

  • Tips For Obtaining Utility Incentives

    First published in Accelerate America Magazine June 2015 Here’s some advice for supermarkets on how to go about seeking incentive funding from utilities for natural-refrigerant projects. Accelerate America: Do you expect that utilities  around the U.S. will provide incentives for various supermarket systems that employ natural refrigerants? Keilly Witman: Yes, we’’ll see this happen over the…

  • Centralize Refrigeration Management

    First published in Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer Magazine May 2015 Store level programs can hide huge dollar losses from refrigeration leaks. People often ask me to name the single most effective way to cut supermarket refrigeration leaks, based on my time heading up the EPA’s GreenChill Partnership. My response usually surprises them: Your first priority…

  • Time to Overhaul 608

    First published in Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer Magazine April 2015 Special interests want to expand Section 608 refrigerant leak regula­tions. But what it needs is a major overhaul. The Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, a Washington, D.C., special interest group, petitioned the EPA last year to expand Section 608 refrigerant leak repair regulations to include…

  • Clearing the Cost Hurdle (part 2)

    First published in Accelerate America Magazine April 2015 On January 8th of this year in Berkeley, CA, Hillphoenix, Emerson Climate Technologies, and AHT Cooling Systems USA brought together supermarket refrigeration executives and representatives from the nation’s major utilities to discuss ways that utilities could help boost demand for energy-efficient natural refrigerant equipment. After discussing energy…

  • Clearing the Cost Hurdle (part 1)

    First published in Accelerate America Magazine March 2015  Those who look to natural refrigerants as the ultimate solution to the cycle of never-ending refrigerant phaseouts have been discussing for several years the hurdles that need to be overcome to accelerate their adoption in the U.S. Above all, the biggest hurdle is cost. As is usual…

  • Ready for Prime Time?

    First published in Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer Magazine March 2015 Moveable, self-contained hydrocarbon cases may be in your future. Imagine a world where merchandising people and refrigeration people live in perfect harmony. Most people who work in one of these two areas will claim to get along fine, but behind the scenes they’ll admit to…

  • The Great Divide

    First published in Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer Magazine January 2015 Are you looking in the right places for unbiased opinions about your systems and refrigerants? One of the first things I learned about refrigerants and supermarkets is that there is never one right answer, regardless of the question. Doors on cases? It depends on lots of…

  • Will the Montreal Protocol Get Anywhere with HFCs This Year? Should You Care?

    Those of you who follow this type of thing will know that the annual Montreal Protocol negotiations are going on right now in Paris. The US is (again) trying to get HFCs added to the meeting agenda so that formal discussions on incorporating HFCs into the treaty can officially begin. The US has attempted to…