The San Francisco Environment Department, the Bay Area Regional Network (BayREN), REEF and partners including the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council and CalNEXT, presented a must-attend refrigerants event during SF Climate Week 2026. Attendees heard from state, industry, and contractor leaders about how California is advancing market adoption of refrigeration and HVAC with natural refrigerants and developing a robust circular refrigerant market.

After an opening keynote by Elizabeth Scheele of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the event featured a rapid-fire Q&A with

expert speakers sharing a range of perspectives--from contractor, commercial OEM, designer, operator, reclaimer, and residential OEM/innovator standpoints—on insights on today's technologies, what's next, and programs like FRIP that help small businesses overcome cost and equity barriers.

Speakers:

- Matt di Cicco, C.E.M., Hussmann

- Stet Sanborn, AIA FASHRAE, SmithGroup

- Robert Leonard MBA, Key Mechanical

- Ruth M. Ivory-Moore, Hudson Technologies

- Adam Smith, Save Mart

- Pierre Delforge, Harvest Thermal

With a packed room full and an engaged audience, our speakers made clear that the mechanisms needed for an affordable, scalable, and climate-aligned HVAC/R sector are already in motion. The refrigerant transition is here and happening; accelerating it requires systems-level collaboration and commitment to an ultra-low GWP future. By working together and scaling bold ideas, we can continue REEF's mission of eliminating refrigerant emissions.

We’re grateful to everyone who participated and helped make Climate Week SF 2026 a success. The path to a cleaner cooling future is possible--let the work continue!