Whole Foods Market Honored by EPA

New York City Whole Foods Market in Lakewood, Texas, is the first store to achieve silver-level certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership.

The store received the certification based on its use of refrigerants with zero ozone-depleting potential. These refrigerants support a storewide annual refrigerant emissions rate of 15% or less. They also achieve an average HFC refrigerant charge equal to or less than 1.75 lbs of refrigerant per 1,000 BTUs per hour of total evaporator cooling load.

According to reports, the store, which uses a distributed refrigeration system from Hussman, reduced its refrigerant charge by 50% vs. the industry average.

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry and other stakeholders to promote advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.