Enns Industrial Refrigeration, a Toronto-based contractor, has received the ATMO Approved Natural Refrigerants Label from ATMOsphere, a global market accelerator of clean cooling and heating solutions and publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com.
Enns is the third contractor to receive the label, following Sure Solutions and General Refrigeration.
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, in response to the need to reflect excellence across the entire natural refrigerant sector, ATMOsphere expanded the label to include contractors and installers.
When ATMOsphere opened registration for the 2025 label in November 2024, it added quantifying the trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) emissions avoided through natural refrigerant solutions provided by the certified companies to the requirements. 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.
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 first company approved for the label in 2025 was Fenagy, which received its second reapproval.
Win-win
Enns, a family owned company with more than 20 years’ experience, specializes in designing, installing and maintaining customized large-scale ammonia (R717) and CO2 (R774) systems for food manufacturing and cold storage operations.
“As an alpinist, I have witnessed the effects of climate change on the mountains and climbing destinations I hold dear,” said Ryan Ritter, President of Enns. “It is a powerful reminder of [our] shared responsibility to protect our planet.”
Recently, Enns installed an ammonia–CO2 cascade refrigeration system for Seenergy Foods, a Concord, Ontario, food processor that provides natural bulk individual ingredients for quick-frozen foods.
“This was a new project, and the system runs as efficiently as we expected,” said Craig Falkiner, Project Manager at Seenergy Foods. “Enns delivered. They always do, including ensuring we properly understand the high pressures associated with CO2.”
“As a company, we are deeply committed to using natural refrigerants to make a positive impact on the world,” Ritter said. “Through sustainable refrigeration practices, we are striving to reduce our environmental footprint and contribute to a future where both businesses and nature can thrive.”
“Enns delivered. They always do, including ensuring we properly understand the high pressures associated with CO2.”
Craig Falkiner, Project Manager at Seenergy Foods
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 CO2e 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 60 conferences in locations across the globe, produced dozens of market reports, attended 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.
“Through sustainable refrigeration practices, we are striving to reduce our environmental footprint and contribute to a future where both businesses and nature can thrive.”
Ryan Ritter, President of Enns
