Refrigerants Procurement Climate Collaborative

The Refrigerants Procurement Climate Collaborative, convened by SPLC, brings together leading experts in refrigerants and sustainable procurement to cut greenhouse gas emissions from hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. Through a cooperative, multi-stakeholder effort, the Collaborative has created the Sustainable Refrigerant Procurement Toolkit—a practical resource with purchasing specifications, guidance, and tools to support best practices across the full refrigerant lifecycle. From buying low-GWP equipment to ensuring safe end-of-life disposal, the toolkit helps organizations credibly measure and communicate their emissions reductions.

Funded by the Energy Foundation and the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD), the toolkit was developed with the Refrigerant Emissions Elimination Forum (REEF) and more than 20 partner organizations listed below.

Why Refrigerants?

Refrigerants—used in air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pumps—are among the most powerful greenhouse gases. Many contain HFCs and HCFCs, which are thousands of times more potent than CO₂. Without action, their emissions could drive a major share of global warming this century. Scientists estimate that phasing down high-GWP HFCs could avoid 70–100 billion tonnes of CO₂-equivalent and prevent up to 0.5°C of warming by 2100. Pairing this with energy-efficient cooling technologies could double the climate benefits.

According to Project Drawdown, refrigerant management and adoption of climate-friendly alternatives together represent the #1 climate solution available today.

Impact

Taking a proactive approach to sustainable Lifecycle Refrigerant Management can yield big benefits, including:

Cutting costs

New EPA regulations designed to lower GHG emissions from refrigerants will significantly decrease HFC supply beginning in 2024, driving up the cost of equipment that uses refrigerants containing HFCs and making it more expensive to service leaky equipment.

Achieving emissions reductions targets

Equipment purchasing decisions made today will impact refrigerant-related emissions for the lifetime of the equipment, often beyond 2030 -2040 net zero targets. As other GHG sources are reduced and eliminated, remaining refrigerant emissions will become a larger share of total emissions and as such, should be considered in an organization's climate strategy.

Exceeding regulatory requirements

Purchasing RACHP equipment that uses natural refrigerants not only mitigates the concern for reducing and tracking emissions, but also ensures compliance with the EPA “technology transition” rules going into effect in January 2025.

Take action now

SPLC is proud to share the new publicly available Sustainable Refrigerant Procurement Toolkit:

Sustainable Refrigerants 1-pager: Reducing Refrigerant Emissions is a Real Win-Win

A summary of why refrigerants matter and how to take action. A great resource for sharing internally with your teams or leadership to make the case for a more sustainable refrigerant management plan.

Climate Friendly Refrigerant Management & Procurement Guidance

The improved and updated full guidance document covers everything you need to know about sustainable refrigerant management, from purchasing to end of life disposal.

Climate Friendly Refrigerant Policy and Specifications

Specific model contract and policy language that can be copied and pasted directly into your organization’s procurement policies and/or RFPs.

Climate Friendly Refrigerants Inventory Workbook

Robust workbook designed to help you take inventory of your current refrigerants and identify areas of opportunity for improvement.

Team

Refrigerant Emissions Elimination Forum (REEF)*
Êffecterra
University of Wisconsin System Administration
Tradewater
A-Gas
Yale Carbon Containment Lab
Arizona State University
UCSD
NRDC
EIA
True Mfg
Glencoe Strategies
NY DEC

NREL
Yale Carbon Containment Lab
USDA
Hennepin County
Toromont
IIAR
City of Portland
DOE
IGSD
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Hudson Technologies

*Co-lead

Thank you to our refrigerants resource sponsors!

The Procurement Climate Collaborative was established with support from these founding sponsors: