GreenChill Certified Store Achievements

To certify under the GreenChill Store Certification Program, individual food retail stores voluntarily submit applications detailing the types of refrigerants used in the store, refrigerant emissions, and refrigerant quantities. 16 years of data^[1] demonstrate that the collective impact of GreenChill Certified Stores using environmentally friendlier refrigeration systems has resulted in significant environmental achievements.

On this page:

Food Retailers are Committed to Making a Positive Impact
Food Retailers are Using Lower-GWP Refrigerants
Food Retailers are Reducing Emissions
Food Retailers are Saving Money

Food Retailers Are Committed to Making a Positive Impact

Stores Are Taking the Initiative

GreenChill issued its first Store Certification in 2008. Since then, over 1,470 individual food retail stores across the United States have voluntarily committed to GreenChill Store Certification standards and successfully certified their stores. The number of GreenChill Certified Stores has grown by an average of 67% each year.

Stores Are Aiming High and Meeting GreenChill Standards

Food retailers are consistently striving to further their commitments, increase their sustainability, and garner greater environmental achievements. This trend is demonstrated by the growth in the number of Platinum-Level stores – the highest certification level under the GreenChill Store Certification Program. Stores’ increasing focus on designing and utilizing systems that meet and surpass GreenChill standards means that over half of GreenChill Store Certifications are at the Platinum-Level.

Stores are Successfully Maintaining Certification

GreenChill successfully engages Store Certification Program participants, ensuring that stores recertify when eligible to continue earning recognition and demonstrating their environmental achievements. The number of recertifying stores continues to rise – in 2024, 78% of GreenChill Certified Stores were recertifications. In fact, over 85% of all GreenChill Certified Stores have certified for two or more years, and nearly 60% of all stores have certified for four or more years.

Food Retailers Are Using Lower-GWP Refrigerants

GreenChill Certified Stores are industry leaders in implementing environmentally-friendly refrigeration technologies across the food retail sector, including the use of lower-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants and the installation of advanced refrigeration systems (i.e., those that reduce both refrigerant charges and refrigerant emissions).

Of all stores certified by GreenChill to date, about 61% or a total of 900 stores have achieved Platinum-Level Certification using primarily low GWP refrigerants (with GWPs less than 150; the vast majority use carbon dioxide with a GWP of 1). In 2024 alone, 61% of GreenChill Certified Stores used a refrigerant with GWP less than 150. While the Northeast region represents the area with the largest share (27%) of Platinum-Level Certified Stores, the number of Platinum-Level Certified Stores in the South, Southwest, and Southeast regions (the warmer climate regions of the country as defined by NOAA’s Climate Regions) increased by 78% between the 2023 and the 2024 reporting years. Compared to an average grocery store, GreenChill Certified Stores also use 83% less refrigerant in their refrigeration systems.

Food Retailers are Reducing Refrigerant Emissions

From 2008-2024, GreenChill Certified Stores avoided over 2.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO₂e) emissions through preventative maintenance and leak reduction practices – equivalent to the total emissions avoided from 501,202 homes’ electricity use for one year.

Figure 4. GreenChill Store Certifications and Avoided Emissions from 2008-2024

1,488 stores certified. 2.54 MMTCO2 avoided emissions. 501,202 home's electricity

Note: Equivalencies estimated using EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator

Food Retailers are Saving Money

By meeting GreenChill standards, Certified Stores on average save more than $1,400 each year in refrigerant replacement costs as compared to typical food retail stores. From 2008-2024, GreenChill Certified Stores saved more than $13,100,000 in combined operating costs.

^[1] Statistics and figures on this page represent GreenChill Store Certification Program data through July 19, 2024, unless otherwise noted.