preface

The IIAR State of the Industry report, now with its 6th Edition, contains valuable information and is an important resource for decision makers considering their facilities and operations regarding safety and compliance issues. This cannot be more true today as you will see reading through this comprehensive report that IIAR’s vision and mission are more important than ever to our industry with the increased pursuit of government and regulatory agencies on the transitioning use of natural refrigerants. I applaud the IIAR Marketing Committee and IIAR Staff for the countless hours of research and hard work to capture the information presented including updates on initiatives concerning the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, energy sustainability, the new membership structure, regulations and IIAR Standards, among other topics.

The biggest initiative taking place in IIAR is supporting the transition to natural refrigerants with the impact of the AIM Act of 2020 approaching fast and looming large. The AIM Act Task Force, under the direction of Miguel Garrido, has been moving quickly to develop content and provide guidance intended to support those that will be affected by it. The Energy & Sustainability Committee, re-energized (pun intended) under the direction of Aer Teale, is paralleling the efforts of the AIM Act Task Force and is determined to set the refrigeration industry on a pathway to making natural refrigerants the 1st choice to achieve energy sustainability. The Standards Committee, under the direction of Don Faust, continues to develop the standards necessary to make refrigeration systems using natural refrigerants the safest possible. It is clear that the work of these committees and all IIAR committee and our volunteer membership are collaboratively needed to support the transition to natural refrigerants.

It will also take more people. As mentioned in last year’s report, the new membership structure went into effect with the new membership year that began in July 2022. To date, the new program has generated 404 new members, an increase of 14%. This is a great start!

IIAR has been and will continue to work collaboratively with the Industrial Refrigeration Consortium (IRC), RETA, GCCA, ASTI, Eurammon, and other like-minded similar-mission organizations to expand on the safe use of All-Natural Refrigerants.

Thank you for your interest in this important work and let this express my gratitude to the IIAR Marketing Committee and Staff for their hard work and efforts in the development of this invaluable document. I would also like to thank all our many volunteers, contributors to the Ammonia Research Foundation, committee chairs, and the IIAR Board of Directors for all their efforts in expanding and making our industry as safe as it can be.

Sincerely,

Trevor Hegg 2022-2023 IIAR Chairman

IIAR has long sought to support its members is the best way possible In 2022, IIAR introduced a new membership model to include additional training benefits and a new membership structure. IIAR Committees have strived to meet the goals of 2022 and set lucrative goals for 2023.

The conflicting dynamic between natural refrigerants and synthetic refrigerants continues to be an important topic of discussion. Natural refrigerants continue to be the most sought-after refrigerants in the industry globally and have low or no Ozone Depletion Potentials (ODPs) and Global Warming Potentials (GWPs). Several non-profit and government alliance organizations are putting their efforts into advocating for natural refrigerants worldwide.

As IIAR looks to its 2023 goals, its hopeful that ongoing discussions on the safe and sustainable use of natural refrigerants will continue to grow in communities other than our direct industries served. In addition, IIAR continues to share the new membership information in the hope that more members will utilize the benefits and new members will seek out the IIAR community.