2026 Q3 Recap Newsletter
Dear REEF Community,
As we enter the final stretch of 2026, we're taking a moment to look back on REEF's activities from the past few months. From bringing the sustainable cooling community together at The Cool House during Climate Week NYC and celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Kigali Amendment to hosting a practical webinar on navigating recent AIM Act updates, this summer offered ample opportunities to advance REEF's work eliminating refrigerant emissions.This newsletter features highlights from the past quarter, upcoming events, and opportunities to get involved.
Thanks for reading and being part of the REEF community!
Upcoming Events
LEEDS Sustainability Case Competition
Saturday, February 20th, 2027
Thanks to REEF's new partnership with the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder, we'll be in the Rocky Mountain region on February 20th, 2027 as the the title sponsor of the Leeds Sustainability Case Competition (LSCC). We're looking forward to hearing from the graduate student teams tackling this year's case, Cooling at a Crossroads: Aligning Financial Performance, Operational Execution, and Climate Strategy.
With $25,000 in cash prizes on the line, top MBA students from schools across the country will develop practical business strategies for addressing one of the fastest-growing climate and operational challenges facing companies today: how to meet increasing demand for cooling while managing cost, reliability, refrigerant transition and emissions reduction.
Team Registration is now open; the deadline to register is December 6, 2026. Register by November 1 to receive 25% off with code LSCCEARLY.
Refrigerants & Green Building Certifications
Tuesday, November 17th, 2026
Join REEF for a webinar exploring how refrigerants factor into leading green building certification programs. We'll cover certification requirements, common documentation challenges, and practical strategies for managing refrigerants across building portfolios.
REEF Growth
Welcome to the REEF Board of Directors, Travis!We’re thrilled to welcome Travis English, PE, to the REEF Board of Directors!
As Senior Director of Engineering for Kaiser Permanente's Facilities Planning & Design organization, Travis leads engineering standards, commissioning, and design quality assurance across Kaiser Permanente's healthcare portfolio of hospitals, medical office buildings, and specialty and regional healthcare facilities. He specializes in building systems, energy efficiency, resiliency, commissioning, and lifecycle asset optimization and has led multidisciplinary teams advancing strategies to improve building performance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Travis brings an owner's perspective to the challenges of building decarbonization and refrigerant emission reduction, helping bridge long-term sustainability goals with practical implementation. He champions innovative approaches that improve environmental performance while maintaining the reliability and resilience required for healthcare delivery.
We’re honored to have Travis join REEF’s leadership team as we continue advancing refrigerant solutions that serve people, performance, and the planet.
Throughout the summer, REEF shared cooling consumption recommendations that inspire us to think about sustainability topics in different ways. Check out our picks for music, podcasts, books, and documentaries below.
Education
Refrigerant Reality Check: Navigating the AIM Act & State Policy Updates
Tuesday, August 18th, 2026
REEF continued our quarterly webinar series with a practical session breaking down recent AIM Act updates and their impact on building owners and operators across the HVACR industry.
The webinar explored federal and state refrigerant policy updates and offered actionable guidance on refrigerant inventories, lifecycle refrigerant management, capital planning, and contractor readiness before closing with a Q&A session fueled by thoughtful audience questions. After an engaging discussion, 40+ attendees walked away with practical strategies to reduce risk and plan for the future.
Special thanks to our speakers:
--Tom Kacandes, Senior Consultant at VEIC
--Julius Banks, Senior Technical Lead at Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) US
--Jeremy Arling, Senior Fellow, Superpollutants at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
The Heat Tax: Cool Cities in a Warming World
In August, REEF Executive Director Aleisha Khan was a featured speaker on The Heat Tax: Cool Cities in a Warming World, sharing her sustainable cooling expertise in a discussion about how cities can adapt to extreme heat.
The conversation was presented through Solution Citizen's The Leadership Circle: a monthly forum for philanthropists, corporate leaders, experts, activists, and strategists to have candid conversations about a healthy environment and a healthy democracy.
Engagement
The Cool House at Climate Week NYC
On September 22, 2026, REEF hosted The Cool House: The Unofficial Cooling Destination of Climate Week NYC, bringing together industry, government, philanthropy, technology, and the built environment under one roof to explore the next decade of sustainable cooling.
The Cool House kicked off with an Opening Plenary commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol where distinguished leaders across government, NGOs, and the international climate community shared remarks and reflections on the past, present, and future.
The program that followed combined live technology demonstrations, interactive exhibits and panel discussions on topics from lifecycle refrigerant management and alternative cooling technologies to workforce development and the business case for cleaner cooling. The event also featured an Innovative Cooling Showcase, which provided attendees with hands-on access to technologies including leak-detection systems, refrigerant tracking platforms, recovery equipment, advanced HVAC technologies, and emerging non-vapor-compression cooling solutions.
We learned a tremendous amount from the inaugural Cool House event and are already evaluating the lessons, opportunities, and feedback that can help us build on this year's momentum. A special thank you to our sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors who contributed their time, shared their expertise, and helped bring The Cool House to life. And to all of our attendees - thank you for showing up and showing out! We appreciate those who made an effort to attend panels, ask questions, and learn more about refrigerants throughout the day.
Check out The Cool House featured in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) Climate Week NYC Roundups here and here.
Cool Under PressureDon't miss this special episode of FMHero's HVAC/R industry podcast Chill Under Pressure, featuring reflections from Cool House attendees.
Closed-Door Listening Session on Understanding New York City's Refrigerant Regulatory Landscape Amidst Building Decarbonization Efforts
In September, REEF convened a closed-door listening session to understand opportunities and challenges inherent to coordination among New York State and New York City agencies working at the intersection of the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase-down and building decarbonization.
This session was convened under Chatham House rules; you can read a summary of key takeaways along with an overview of the key agencies that oversee the regulations that shape this space at the link below.
Empowerment
Refrigerant Leak-Rate Study Participation Opportunity
REEF is excited to collaborate with êffecterra on an important research project funded by the ASHRAE Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization (CEBD): Research Project 2027-SP, Refrigerant Leakage Rate Emissions Tracking.
We are asking for real-world asset, service, and refrigerant management data, so that we can better understand how HVAC leakage varies across equipment populations and locations over time.
Any data shared will be anonymized and remain confidential. This will ultimately inform future ASHRAE Handbook updates and a standardized framework for ongoing industry data collection.
If you have building operational data (e.g., equipment inventory, service records, leak reports) and are interested in participating, please let us know at contact@reefclimate.org and we will coordinate next steps.
REEF Buyer's Principles
These principles provide a framework for organizations seeking to incorporate refrigerant considerations into business decisions and leverage their purchasing power to drive market transformation.
We invite our peers, collaborators, and industry partners to commit to the Buyer's Principles and join us in sending a clear demand signal to the market that can influence product availability and transform the refrigerant landscape.
