Despite the long-term energy savings and environmental benefits natural refrigerant systems offer, their higher upfront costs remain a primary barrier to retailers’ widespread adoption of these technologies.

The supermarket industry realized a long time ago that it is impossible to solve environmental problems related to refrigerant leaks using a repair-based approach (i.e., with policies that focus on leak repair and record-keeping). Yet, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) main regulatory program to address harmful refrigerant emissions reflects a repair-based policy.