EPA’s GreenChill partners own approximately 10,800 stores nationwide, representing 29 percent of the U.S. supermarket industry. According to the EPA, if supermarkets nationwide reduced the amount of refrigerant they leak to the current GreenChill partner average, they could avoid $169 million in refrigerant replacement costs while preventing the equivalent of 29 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, roughly equal to the annual emissions of about 6 million cars.  

GreenChill partners were recognized in the following categories:

Best Corporate Emissions Rate: Giant Eagle (Pittsburgh) earned the partnership’s most prestigious award for achieving the lowest refrigerant emissions rate among retail chains. Port Townsend Food Co-op (Port Townsend, Washington) received this award in the small-independent GreenChill partner category for a second time.

Most Improved Emissions Rate: Weis Markets (Sunbury, Pennsylvania) was honored for achieving the partnership’s largest refrigerant leak rate reduction compared to the year it joined the GreenChill Partnership. Dorothy Lane Market (Dayton, Ohio) earned this same recognition for lowering its emissions rate more than any other partner compared to the previous year.

Goal Achievement: GreenChill’s five Superior Goal Achievement winners voluntarily set and achieved challenging refrigerant emissions reduction goals. Winners include Buehler's Fresh Foods (Wooster, Ohio), City Market, Onion River Co-Op (Burlington, Vermont), Dorothy Lane Market (Dayton, Ohio), Meijer (Grand Rapids, Michigan), and Weis Markets (Sunbury, Pennsylvania).

Distinguished Partner: Target (Minneapolis) was honored with the Distinguished Partner award for demonstrating extraordinary leadership and initiative in support of GreenChill’s mission.

GreenChill’s Store Certification Program recognized certain stores for meeting strict performance criteria that demonstrate their refrigeration systems have minimal impacts on the ozone layer and climate. GreenChill presented the following store certification awards:

Best of the Best Award: Piggly Wiggly (Columbus, Georgia) and Whole Foods Market (Dublin, California) stores were honored as the “Best of the Best” for installing refrigeration systems that use ammonia as refrigerant.

Store Certification Excellence Award: Hillphoenix (Conyers, Georgia) and Sprouts Farmers Market (Phoenix, Arizona) earned awards for achieving more GreenChill Store Certifications than their peers over the past year.

Store Re-Certification Award: Five stores were recognized for achieving GreenChill certification for five consecutive years. The winners are Stater Bros. Markets in Palm Desert, Grand Terrace, Chino, and Lake Elsinore, California, and Weis Markets in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

For more information about the GreenChill Partnership and award winners’ achievements, visit https://www.epa.gov/greenchill.