HARDI has joined a nonprofit group working to boost the use of climate-friendly supermarket refrigerants.

The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council promotes the use of green HVAC refrigerants such as carbon dioxide, ammonia and hydrocarbons such as propane and isobutane. Compared to traditional fluorocarbon refrigerants, natural refrigerants have little or no global warming potential, the association said.

Natural refrigerants — as an entire suite of technologies — offer environmentally appealing solutions that can fit every store format, size and geographic location,” said NASRC Executive Director Liz Whiteley. “The catch is that right now there are hurdles in the marketplace that are preventing the widespread adoption of these technologies. Our mission is simple: address those hurdles and allow natural refrigerants to prove themselves as a climate-friendly, energy efficient solution for retail food refrigeration.”

It’s a mission that the Heating, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International supports, said Jon Melchi, the group’s vice president government affairs and business development.

“We recognize the importance of supporting responsible energy consumption and understand the challenges of implementing sustainable practices in an established market,” Melchi said. “To that end, we fully support the NASRC and are proud to join them in their efforts to help sustainable refrigerants gain a foothold in the HVACR supply chain.”

NASRC board member Keilly Witman, a former Environmental Protection Agency executive, said thee association was excited to have HARDI has a member.

“We’re very excited to welcome HARDI on board,” said Witman, the owner of KW Refrigerant Management Strategy. “The key to our success is bringing all industry stakeholders to the table, and HARDI brings a critical piece of the puzzle in the form of refrigerant wholesalers and distributors.”