ATMOsphere, a global market accelerator of clean cooling and heating solutions and publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, has reapproved the ATMO Approved Natural Refrigerants Label for Zudek, an Italian chiller manufacturer, for the third time.
Zudek was initially approved for the label in October 2022 and reapproved in February 2023 and April 2024.
“From day one, our commitment to sustainable cooling has been unwavering, constant and, above all, truly passionate,” said Alessandro Zudek, CEO of Zudek. “This reapproval by ATMOsphere highlights our ongoing efforts to mitigate climate impact and drive innovation in natural refrigeration and heating.”
The ATMO Approved label, launched in June 2022, offers a global benchmark for identifying the leading manufacturers of natural refrigerant systems and components. Last year, ATMOsphere expanded the label to include contractors and installers, reflecting the need to highlight excellence across the entire natural refrigerants sector.
When ATMOsphere opened registration for the 2025 label in November 2024, it added quantifying the avoided trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) emissions by certified companies through natural refrigerant solutions. The extra calculation aligns with recent research highlighting TFA as a “planetary boundary threat” due to its potential risks to human and environmental health.
“The model we developed for the 2025 label will quantify both the CO2e emissions and TFA your company has avoided,” said Marc Chasserot, CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere.
“ATMOsphere is a valuable partner in promoting natural refrigerants on a global scale and advocating for much-needed critical policy changes at the institutional level,” Zudek said. “Their support is key, and we are proud to be aligned with such a trusted and reliable ally.”
Manufacturers and contractors approved for the Natural Refrigerants Label in 2024 included SURE Solutions, GTS, General Refrigeration, Secon, Güntner, Nihon Netsugen Systems, TEKO, Refra, M&M Carnot, Zero-C, Equans Kältetechnik, Zudek, SCM Frigo, Temprite, Ceptek, Novum and Vahterus. The companies already approved in 2025 include Fenagy, with its second reapproval, and Enns, with its initial approval.
Saving energy
Founded in 1990, Zudek designs and manufactures customized low-charge ammonia (R717) chillers, including the water-cooled Ecomatik chiller and air-cooled Airmatik chiller. It also makes the Recumatik water-cooled ammonia heat pump and Enermatik ammonia absorption chiller. Zudek reports its ammonia products save companies energy based on operational data from retrofit applications.
In a data center in the German state of Baden–Württemberg, an Airmatik chiller cut the energy consumption for cooling by 43% compared to the facility’s original R407C-based chiller. The ammonia unit captures free cooling in ambient temperatures as high as 10°C (50°F), whereas the HFC chiller could only take advantage of free cooling when temperatures dropped below −4°C (24.8°F). The higher temperature increased time spent in free cooling by roughly 2,000 hours annually.
Another Airmatik chiller application, this one installed at a pharmaceutical site in Belgium in 2022, had a 20% higher energy efficiency ratio than the R134a unit it replaced. The chiller has a 650kW (184.8TR) cooling capacity and a payback period of less than five years, according to Sarah Van Erdeweghe, Energy Efficiency Engineer at HVAC contractor Equans, which installed the unit.
Recently, the contractor installed another Zudek ammonia chiller in Belgium. “The start up of the unit went smoothly, with a factory engineer on-site witnessing the tests and final commissioning,” said Koen Demerie, Commercial Manager at Equans Belgium Industry. “The chiller absolutely performs as expected after completing the necessary fine-tuning.”
Best-in-class visibility
The ATMOsphere label is designed to help certified contractors and manufacturers market their services and products in the natural refrigerants marketplace. The label ‒ displayed on email signatures, marketing materials, trade show booths and products ‒ elevates the certified organization’s visibility and makes them readily identifiable as best-in-class suppliers.
“By being global and multi-application, this label can help to create trust across new applications and regions,” said Chasserot. “We want this multi-year label process to help move the market to cleaner solutions with natural refrigerant solutions over time.”
To qualify, companies must demonstrate excellence across four pillars:
- Company vision – a commitment to natural refrigerants as a core business.
- Customer satisfaction – positive end-user testimonials confirming performance and reliability.
- Measurable impact – mitigation of TFA and CO₂ emissions.
- Proactive training – investment in employee and stakeholder education.
Interested parties can find additional information on the 2025 label and the registration form here.
With almost 20 years of experience in the natural refrigerant space, ATMOsphere has hosted more than 70 conferences in locations across the globe, produced dozens of market reports, sent reporters to hundreds of trade shows and published thousands of news articles.
“We feel that, as an independent player with a global mindset and a global presence across all natural refrigerants and multiple applications, we are very well suited to provide this level of approval for the label,” explained Chasserot.
Addressing PFAS
Harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including TFA, form from the atmospheric breakdown of certain HFCs and HFOs. Research links TFA to environmental accumulation and potential health risks, as shown in animal studies with liver dysfunction and reproductive toxicity. In recent years, the ATMO Label has focused on eliminating these chemicals.
“The label criteria around PFAS acknowledges what companies are doing to ensure they are PFAS-free,” Chasserot said. “ATMO Approved companies have the vision and leadership required to navigate the market today and help [companies] move away from PFAS and global-warming synthetic alternatives.”
In October 2024, ATMOsphere, along with Fenagy, Güntner, Konvekta, Refra, Secon and TEKO, founded the Coalition for PFAS Free Cooling and Heating. The initiative supports an ambitious European PFAS regulation by advocating for natural refrigerants as sustainable alternatives to PFAS in the HVAC&R sector.
