The Ingka Group, IKEA’s largest retailer, is seeking manufacturer support to tackle upfront costs and operations of natural refrigerant solutions across its global portfolio, according to Joana Pereira, Ingka’s Business Development Leader for Net Zero Transition.
Pereira outlined the company’s sustainability targets, its desire for integrated energy solutions and the need for global assistance in a presentation at the ATMOsphere (ATMO) Europe Summit 2025. She also emphasized that Ingka is deploying natural refrigerant solutions across its portfolio, not just in jurisdictions with regulatory requirements. The event, organized by ATMOSphere, was held November 24–25 in Padua, Italy. ATMOsphere is the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com.
“The cost of these systems and the knowledge to operate them are quite scattered across the markets,” Pereira said. “We believe that it is through collaboration and cooperation with manufacturers and maintenance suppliers that we will find and leverage the opportunities.”
Ingka Group accounts for 87% of IKEA’s global sales and operates 411 of the brand’s 503 stores across 32 countries, along with 209 IKEA plan and order points. Natural refrigerants, particularly CO2 (R744) and propane (R290), represent the group’s preferred approach to refrigeration and HVAC due to their energy efficiency and low global warming potential, Pereira said, with country-specific strategies co-developed according to operational feasibility.
Sustainability leadership: “We’ve learned in the past few years that being climate smart is good for business,” Pereira said.
- The company aims to cut its GHG scope 1 and 2 emissions by 85% by 2030 compared to its 2016 baseline, with an absolute net-zero target across its entire value chain by 2050.
- The group has committed €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion) to transforming its real estate portfolio, focusing on on-site electricity generation and battery storage, replacing gas boilers with heat pumps and capitalizing on end-of-life equipment upgrades and site-specific energy opportunities such as geothermal and energy recovery. By scaling energy efficiency, Ingka Group aims to reduce overall energy consumption to make it easier to transition into renewable energy solutions.
- For kitchen equipment refrigeration, Ingka is transitioning to centralized natural refrigerant systems. For HVAC, it is prioritizing either centralized solutions or systems optimized for heat recovery.
Systematic challenges: Issues requiring industry collaboration include risk education, market-specific issues and prescriptive thinking.
- In 2023 Ingka Group started installing R290 chillers, according to Brendan Bosson, Construction Project Manager at IKEA. However, Pereira explained that many insurance companies still do not understand propane from a risk and compliance perspective. She asked manufacturers to step up with communication packages that define the quantity of propane used in a unit and the actual safety risks.
- She also asked industry stakeholders to enable the business case of natural refrigerant solutions, with their generally higher upfront CAPEX costs, by increasing COPs and supplying operation and maintenance support throughout various markets.
- The group wants to explore full-energy approaches for individual units despite consultants pushing a single boiler-to-heat-pump solution.
An example: Pereira highlighted IKEA’s newest energy-optimized store in Graz, Austria.
- “At IKEA Graz, we didn’t just do a renewable heating and cooling retrofit; we added latent heat storage in combination with heat-recovery ventilation, and natural refrigerant ground-sourced heat pumps,” Pereira said.
- A smart hydraulic distribution system balances heating and cooling supply with demand, while a 1.4MW rooftop solar array provides on-site power, according to Bosson.
Quotable: “With our size and scale, we have the opportunity and responsibility to make an enormous impact with our transition towards net zero,” Pereira said. “That is why it is so important for us to be here and connect with manufacturers as key partners.”
