The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) has announced the launch of R-TRADE, “a nationwide workforce development program” with the goal of training more than 14,000 technicians.

Three prongs: R-TRADE, which stands for “refrigeration technician recruitment advancement development and education,” is aimed at addressing the refrigeration technician shortage in the U.S. and has three goals.

• Recruitment: The program is designed to build awareness among young people and adults about a career as a refrigeration technician.
• Training: The goal of R-TRADE is to provide training on refrigeration and “advanced refrigeration technologies” to more than 14,000 technicians.
• Retention: R-TRADE will seek to find and promote “best practices, technologies and other support mechanisms” to ensure existing techs remain in the field.

Big sponsors: Financial support for R-TRADE comes from Albertsons, Amazon, Costco, Kroger and Walmart.

• At the ATMOsphere (ATMO) America Summit 2024, Kroger announced that it would use CO₂ (R744) refrigeration in all new stores starting in 2025. ATMOsphere is the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, and the ATMO America Summit 2024 was held June 10–11 in Washington, D.C.
• In its 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, Albertsons reported that three of its stores used CO₂ refrigeration systems and that it planned to open more CO₂ stores.
• “By fostering a skilled technician workforce, this program meets the grocery refrigeration industry’s immediate needs while equipping technicians to enable a smooth transition from HFCs that will pave the way for a sustainable and resilient industry,” said Danielle Wright, the NASRC’s Executive Director.

Training gap: The U.S. commercial refrigeration industry is facing a shortage of service technicians.

• According to Doug Milu, Refrigeration and Energy Program Manager at Publix, 15% of techs leave the industry every year, while only 6% enter it.
• The NASRC’s own data shows that 80,000 HVAC&R technician jobs were unfilled as of March 2024, representing around 39% of the workforce.
• In addition to R-TRADE, the NASRC also holds natural refrigerant training summits across the U.S., with the organization recently making on-demand technician training available.

Increased demand for CO₂: According to ATMOsphere’s 2023 Natural Refrigerants: State of the Industry report, an estimated 2,930 food retail stores in the U.S. and Canada used transcritical CO₂ refrigeration systems in 2023, an increase of 80% from 2022.

• ATMOsphere estimated that there were 928,000 self-contained hydrocarbon-based refrigeration cases installed in U.S. food stores in 2023, an increase of 1% from 2022. The report noted that the market for these cases is becoming “saturated” and that many new units are replacements for old ones.

Quotable: “Building the technician workforce and empowering these professionals with knowledge of natural refrigerants is crucial to achieving our climate objectives while staying ahead of evolving regulatory requirements,” said Brandon Ballard, Walmart’s Senior Director of Facility Services for Refrigeration and HVAC. “Through our commitment to R-TRADE, we’re making a meaningful impact on the future of the retail industry and the planet.”