NASRC Putting up to $3 Million Toward Refrigeration Workforce Development

The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) is slating up to $3 million (€2.8 million) to develop the refrigeration workforce.

The funds are part of the NASRC’s $6.5 million (€6 million) budget to administer the California Air Resources Board (CARB)’s $65 million (€59.9 million) F-gas Reduction Incentive Program (FRIP) for Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration. The program promotes the adoption of refrigeration technologies with a GWP of less than 10, which includes ammonia (R717), CO₂ (R744) and hydrocarbons.

“FRIP offsets capital costs to help businesses through the refrigeration transition, but a key point is having a technician workforce ready to install and service that equipment,” Danielle Wright, Executive Director of the NASRC, told NaturalRefrigerants.com. “We’re putting up to $3 million towards workforce development, which is a complementary investment to the project’s funding.”

NASRC has initiated several technician training programs ‒ including free workshops, train-the-trainer programs and private on-demand contractor training.

Latest offering: “We’re launching a work-based learning program, or internship, to give students on-the-job refrigeration experience and allow connections with potential employers,” Wright said.

• Working with trade schools, the internship will last roughly the length of a semester. “We are soliciting third-party refrigeration contractors to participate,” Wright said.
• Last October, NASRC launched its R-TRADE (Refrigeration Technician Recruitment Advancement Development and Education) program with initial seed funding provided by Albertsons, Amazon, Costco, Kroger and Walmart.
• “Food retailers stepped forward because they realized that they could invest in all the widgets to optimize their systems without solving the installation or maintenance issues,” Wright explained.

FRIP participants: “Under FRIP, we are getting applications from large synthetic sites,” Wright told NaturalRefrigerants.com, including one with 20,000lbs (9,780kg) of R404A.

• Although the program goes through 2029, Wright said it would not surprise her if it sold out this year.
• However, Wright sees California continuing to put more money toward the program. “As a major emission source, switching to low-GWP refrigerants gives a big bang for the buck,” she explained.
• New York is introducing a similar HFC transition program, with NASRC leading a $500,000 (€462,000) demonstration project in a disadvantaged community. Wright indicated that other states with the potential to follow include Illinois and Minnesota.

Addressing CO₂ issues: To equip the industry with data-driven technical guidance to support the uptake of CO₂ in retail applications, NASRC has established a CO₂ technical committee.

• The 17-member committee consists of OEMs, component manufacturers, design firms, service contractors and end users tasked with addressing the resiliency of CO₂ systems.
• According to Wright, the committee’s scope includes minimum bar pressure ratings, critical censors, redundancy and establishing best practices for installation and commissioning.

Quotable: “All businesses are going to need help with the HFC phasedown, including transitioning to new types of equipment, boosting reclaim and addressing leaks,” Wright said. “The key is investing in the technician workforce, and that’s our biggest initiative.”

“We’re putting up to $3 million towards workforce development.”

Danielle Wright, Executive Director of the NASRC