• R.E.E.F. is a community of corporate sustainability leaders using their collective expertise and buying power to accelerate action on super-polluting refrigerants, with a focus on HVAC

  • "To slow warming in the near-term and reduce suffering from the ever-increasing heatwaves, droughts, superstorms and fires, we need to reduce short-lived climate pollutants [e.g. refrigerants] this decade."

    - Drew Shindell, Nicholas Distinguished Professor of Earth Science at Duke University
     

    Join R.E.E.F's VERGE partner event to:

    • Learn why action on HVAC refrigerants is critical for addressing climate change and achieving your corporate climate goals

    • Learn what actions can be taken to address refrigerants in HVAC systems

    • Align with peers on shared opportunities to accelerate refrigerant solutions

  • FAQs

    Why are refrigerants important?

    Widely used refrigerants like HFCs are extremely potent greenhouse gases. Given their short lifespan in the atmosphere, getting rid of them can play an important role in slowing near-term warming and help the world avoid dangerous climate tipping points. Policies like the AIM Act in the U.S. and Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol are phasing out super-polluting refrigerants, but too slowly to hit climate targets. Refrigerant use is also growing and will only grow more in a warming world: the UNEP estimates 3.6 billion pieces of cooling equipment are in use now, and over 14 billion will be required by 2050.

    What's the theory of change?

    At this point, we're just organizing an event to see what's possible, but we're taking inspiration from groups like the Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA), which has organized large buyers to push for deployment of clean energy.


    HVAC equipment companies currently have little incentive to develop climate-friendly refrigerant systems and some have cited lack of demand for ultra-low Global Warming Potential and/or natural refrigerants as the reason why industry isn't developing these solutions. Large corporate buyers of refrigerants have the power to motivate industry players to quickly make better options ready for primetime.

    R.E.E.F. may be a one-off event where attendees learn from experts and each other. It could also lead to the launch of a refrigerant buyers group that demands climate-friendly HVAC/R solutions.

    Does this cost anything? Will we be pitched by vendors?

    No. This is a free, invite-only event with no vendors and no pitching.

    Who's attending?

    Large corporate refrigerant buyers as well as third-party experts on refrigerant policy and technology. Part of the event will only be open to buyers.

  • Organizers

    We're volunteers with backgrounds in refrigerants, energy management, and corporate sustainability. We're organizing R.E.E.F. because we believe corporate buyers can drive much-needed action on refrigerants.

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    Tristam Coffin

    is a Co-Founder and the COO at êffecterra, inc. a sustainability and engineering solutions group based in the U.S. and U.K. Prior to êffecterra, he spent the majority of his career implementing sustainability and environmental initiatives as Director of Sustainability & Facilities for Whole Foods Market. He is a LEED AP and sustainability leader with expertise in multiple areas including high performance buildings, refrigeration/HVAC systems, renewable energy, and waste diversion. He also co-founded the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC).

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    Aaron Daly

    is Vice President of Strategic Development at Ecology Action, a non-profit organization scaling energy efficiency in the built environment. He is also an advisor and consultant to startups in the clean energy and building decarbonization space. In the past, Daly co-founded several non-profit organizations focused on sustainability, including Ratio Institute, which focuses on food retail sustainability, and The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC). Daly was Global Director of Energy Management for Whole Foods Market from 2013 to 2020.

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    Michael Parks

    is a writer with expertise in clean energy and corporate sustainability. He’s worked on climate communications projects for Google, Mosaic, Ratio Institute, and Corporation 2020, and published journalism in outlets including The Atlantic, High Country News, Sierra, and Grist. Parks also served for five years as the Executive Director of the Business Council on Climate Change, a non-profit focused on sharing and scaling climate solutions across Bay Area corporations.

  • Join Our Inaugural Meeting at VERGE 2022

    Participants in the Forum will receive a 20% discount code for the VERGE conference. Please note: while VERGE is open to the public, R.E.E.F. is invite-only and currently restricted to refrigerant end users.

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