Events

James Armer (with Richard Heath)

Refrigeration Group Manager, CTA Architects Engineers & SUPERVALU

Jim Armer is a Licensed Professional Engineer with a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. Jim joined CTA Architects Engineers in 2005 and is a Refrigeration Group Manager in Boise, ID.

Over the last several years he has designed refrigeration systems for new and remodel supermarket projects. Additionally, Jim has extensive experience developing and implementing refrigeration design best practices into corporate prototype documentation for large scale roll-out.

Today, Jim’s primary focus is on the development and advancement of refrigeration technology, energy efficiency and sustainable system designs for the supermarket industry. He has developed expertise in the use of CO₂, ammonia, and hydrocarbons. He leads multiple research and development driven projects and is a refrigeration and mechanical technical expert for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Ashley Armstrong

Team Lead Appliance Standards Program, US Department of Energy

Ashley Armstrong is a member of the Appliance Standards Program at the US Department of Energy. She managers the test procedure development for DOE’s regulatory program and the ENERGY STAR program as well as DOE’s certification, compliance, and enforcement regulations. Prior to this position, Ashley worked at Navigant Consulting for over 6 years, where she was an Associate Director conducting technical analyses for DOE’s appliance standard rulemakings on a wide variety of residential and commercial appliances. Ashley holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Rob Arthur

Principal, CTA Architects Engineers

Co-director of CTA’s retail design team and principal-in-charge of refrigeration engineering, Rob Arthur has dedicated his career to high-efficiency, low-emission refrigeration solutions for retail and grocery spaces. With a personal and professional goal of helping the grocery industry transition to more technologically advanced, sustainable refrigeration systems, Rob works to provide high-quality designs for facilities across the United States and internationally. He and his team design responsible, long-term systems.

Rob is a licensed professional engineering 28 U.S. states, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Puerto Rico and a LEED-accredited professional. When he’s not engineering cutting-edge refrigeration solutions, Rob can be found coaching youth sports in his home state of Montana.

Andrea Asch

Environmental Program Leader, Ben & Jerry�s Homemade, Inc.

As a member of the social mission team, Andrea Asch leads the environmental program for Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., the Vermont-based ice cream manufacturer as widely recognized for its socially and environmentally conscious business practices as for its innovative ice cream flavors.

She has been responsible for guiding Ben & Jerry's environmental well-being since the company first created the position in 1992. Her role covers a wide range of environmental and social issues which include: sustainable dairy farming, packaging, climate issues and recently working on hydrocarbon refrigeration.

Zahid Ayub

President, Isotherm, Inc.

Recognized as one of the pioneers in the field of Ammonia Enhanced Heat Transfer, Zahid Ayub has designed and fabricated several thousand heat exchangers/pressure vessels and heat transfer systems installed globally.

Active member of ASME, ASHRAE, IIAR, AIChE, IoR (UK), IIR, RETA and Eurammon, he is the President of Isotherm, Inc., manufacturer of heat transfer equipment which holds six United States patents and several in process.

Currently, Zahid is also the Executive Editor of the Journal of Heat Transfer Engineering and the Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Thermal Sciences and Engineering Applications.

Dominic Babineau

V.P. Dévelopement international, Soteck

Dominic Babineau is engineer licensed in Quebec and British Columbia.

Dominic has completed several energy efficiency project in the field of chicken hatchery, cheese production and dairy products, that use the heat generated by chilling equipment in Ukraine, China, Australia, United states and Canada.

He also holds 2 certificates from Natural resources Canada for energy management.

Simon B�rub�

Senior Director engineering, Sobeys

For about fifteen years now, Simon Bérubé has been active “on the other side of the fence”, accumulating experience with Ivanhoe (real estate), Ultramar (petroleum refiner & retailer) and Rona.

Currently Senior Director engineering with Sobeys, he has effectively promoted and driven the shift towards a new environmental agenda, a passion close to his heart. In the last few years, he has also been called upon to participate in several tribunes in order to share his passion for responsible development and construction.

Marc Chasserot

CEO, shecco

Marc Chasserot is a specialist in natural refrigeration with over 15 years of experience in the HVAC&R sector, starting as the Marketing Manager for the Norsk Hydro business unit specialised in CO₂ transcritical refrigeration and heating. He worked closely with several Japanese manufacturers selling the market innovative "CO₂ Ecocute heatpumps".

In 2006 Marc founded the industry leading website for CO₂ cooling and heating experts worldwide, called www.R744.com. This was followed by three additional industry resources for hydrocarbons, water and ammonia (namely: www.hydrocarbons21.com, www.R718.com and www.ammonia21.com).

Marc is co-founder and CEO of shecco, an independent market development company specialised in bringing Natural Refrigerants 'faster to market', working with numerous companies worldwide. Marc has chaired and organised several international workshops bringing together leading policy and industry experts to discuss 'how to bring natural refrigerants' faster to market, known as 'ATMOsphere'. He is also an active member of ASHRAE.

Jeff Cohen

Co-Founder, Senior Vice President, EOS Climate

Jeff Cohen is Co-Founder and Senior VP of EOS Climate. Based in San Francisco, EOS is leveraging carbon markets and innovative financial mechanisms to promote production of commodities that minimize impacts on climate and to develop projects that directly reduce emissions of powerful greenhouse gases. EOS has partnerships with Fortune 500 companies across multiple industrial, commercial, and consumer sectors and has received numerous recognitions including five consecutive years as best project developer from Environmental Finance, Innovator Awards from both the American Carbon Registry and Sustainable Brands, and the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award.

Steven Cousins

Equipment Quality Manager, The Coca-Cola Company

Steven Cousins is responsible for performance, safety, and quality requirements for Coca-Cola coolers, vending machines and fountain dispensers in North America.

Over his 23-years with The Coca-Cola Company, Steven has had varied responsibilities with beverage machines, including the development and the commercialization of fountain dispensers, oversight of quality production with appliance manufacturers, laboratory performance testing, and efficiency improvements in existing equipment.

Steven is a degreed and Registered Professional Engineer, and a Certified Manufacturing Engineer. He serves on the ASHRAE 32.1 SPC (vending machines), and is a member of CSA committees C804 (vending machines), C827 (food service refrigerators), and C657 (Refrigerated Display Cabinets).

Serge Dub�

President, CSC Inc.

The story of Serge in Refrigeration began 30 years ago. After completing his 8000 hours of learning in just 2 ½ years, Serge decided to establish his first company. Thus was founded in 1982 `Refrigeration S. Dubé Inc.', a company specialized in the installation and maintenance of refrigeration equipment. In 1996, he created the company CSC Inc. In order to find innovative solutions for energy recovery and defrost.

In 2007, he started to think about CO₂, then he undertakes research and develops its ECO2Système. His company "CSC" has provided more than 20 stores in Canada and has developed a CO₂ system for the arenas (the first is located in St. Gedeon de Beauce, and in operation for 02 seasons). The company has received an ASHRAE Technology award in 2012 for this technolgy.

Serge currently holds over 35 patents and several North American intellectual property rights.

Torben Funder-Kristensen

Head of Public and Industry Affairs, Danfoss

Torben Funder-Kristensen has a Master degree in Engineering (physics) and he received his Ph.D. in 1994 from the Technical University of Denmark (laser processing). Since 1995, Torben has been with Danfoss in Denmark holding various positions from consultancy within materials science and manufacturing processing to product development of controls components. He has been the Vice President of Product Development and from 2011 the head of Public Industry Affairs for refrigeration and air conditioning controls. He is a member of several internal and external boards and working groups within the industry.

Merle G. Rocke (with Darin Massner)

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, EcoThermics Corporation & Country Maid Inc

Merle Rocke is Chairman and CEO of EcoThermics Corporation, a pioneer in the development of natural refrigerant heat pump technologies -- located in the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center, Peoria, IL. EcoThermics is building a sustainable business providing high value compressors, a critical component for CO₂ heat pumps which can significantly reduce energy consumption in a variety of applications.

Prior to forming EcoThermics Corporation, Merle was COO of CGN & Associates, a global management consulting firm. Prior to joining CGN, he has founded his own consulting practice, M.G. Rocke & Associates, LLC, following retirement from Caterpillar Inc. as General Manager, Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. in 2002 after thirty-five years in a variety of management positions.

Sam Gladis

Business Development Manager, CIMCO Refrigeration

Sam has nearly thirty years of experience in applying industrial refrigeration systems in food and beverage, cold storage and distribution, chemical and petrochemical as well as recreational applications. Together with expertise in applying ice thermal storage and industrial heat pumps, Sam has an extensive history in delivering energy efficient natural refrigeration systems for the numerous customers he has served.

Steve Hagen

Procurement Manager, Sprouts Farmers Market

Steve Hagen brings more than 30 years of experience in the grocery retail industry, and more than half of those years were spent in management roles.

Over his career, Steve has been involved in all aspects of the design, engineering and installation of refrigeration and energy management systems.

Randall Haseman

Refrigeration and Room Air Conditioning Equipment, Underwriters Laboratories (UL)

Randall Haseman has been with UL for over 30 years, holding numerous positions relative to the safety evaluations of refrigeration and air conditioning products. He is currently responsible for the standards pertaining to household and commercial refrigerators, ice makers, beverage coolers, ice cream makers, room air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and air filters. In addition to UL standards, he has worked extensively with CSA, IEC, NSF, and energy performance standards.

Randall is currently an executive committee member of UL’s Joint Task Group on flammable refrigerants. He is the Technical Advisor and Administrator for the U. S. Technical Advisory Group for IEC SC61C, and is the Technical Advisor for UL on the Standards Technical Panels (STPs) for the above products. He also represents UL on several outside committees including CANENA and ASHRAE.

Richard Heath

Sr. Director of Energy Optimization, Source Refrigeration

In May of 2013, Richard joined one of the Partners in the Carpinteria project, Source Refrigeration, as Sr. Director of Energy Optimization.

Grandson of an Independent Grocer from Macon, Georgia, Richard began his career in the In Supermarket Industry as a Technical Training Consultant over 20 years ago, after serving as an Instructor for the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Power Training Unit at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in upstate NY. Richard's first refrigeration OEM position was as Product Manager for Kysor Warren in the early 90’s; he then moved to Hillphoenix as the Director of Innovative Technologies concentrating on Advanced Refrigeration Technologies, Food Safety, and Controls Integration. After a 7 year hiatus, Richard returned to Hillphoenix as Director of Remodel Programs in 2007.

In 2010 the opportunity to put these remodel concepts to-the-test was presented by SUPERVALU with an offer to take on the role of Director of Energy Innovations and Projects. During his role, the Nation’s first all-natural supermarket refrigeration system was designed and installed in an Albertsons Remodel in Carpinteria, California.

Harrison Horning

Director of Maintenance â Hannaford, Retail Business Services, LLC

Harrison Horning is Director of Maintenance for Retail Business Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize. His role is focused on supporting Hannaford Supermarkets, with 181 stores in five northeastern US states. His current work includes collaborative efforts to address sustainability and climate impacts. He has over 25 years of experience in the field of facilities and energy management, encompassing a wide range of commercial, industrial and institutional facilities.

Pega Hrnjak

Res. Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Science and Engineering & President, CTS Inc., University of Illinois

Professor Hrnjak is Co-Director of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center (ACRC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, an NSF founded university–industry cooperative research center. Pega is also a founder and President of R&D company CTS, which bridges ACRC activities (precompetitive research in function of education) and industry. He is an active member or fellow of ASME, ASHRAE, IIR, SAE and IIAR, and an editor or member of the boards of several professional scientific journals. He is a recipient of Gustav Lorentzen, J&E Hall and Rittinger medals among other awards.

Tom Hutchison

Founder & CEO, Enreps, LLC

For the past 32 years Tom Hutchison has been a supplier of both equipment and services to the supermarket industry. With 11 years at CPC / Emerson, Tom developed a strong background in Energy Management Systems, commercial refrigeration systems, HVAC, and building commissioning. Tom founded Enreps in 2002, to primarily provide professional commissioning services to supermarkets.

In 2006, Enreps was presented the opportunity to consult and partner with Tesco plc, a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer as they began the design stages of their new venture into the US Market opening as Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market in California, Arizona and Nevada. Currently Enreps commissions those stores and continues in a consulting role with Fresh and Easy as well as many other clients nationwide.

Tom holds certificates in the Commissioning Process for New and Existing Buildings as well as the Commissioning Process for LEED Projects and is a LEED ® Accredited Professional.

Emad Jafa

Director global R&D, PepsiCo

Emad Jafa is leading the Coolers/Vending innovation and equipment sustainability. He has wide range of experience in refrigeration and cooling equipment globally, specifically: Cooler innovation and sustainability, refrigeration and air conditioning, Six Sigma design and large engineering project management.

Emad joined PepsiCo in 2007. He has led global cooler program, and represents PepsiCo‘s cooler sustainability program with external agencies like Greenpeace, RefNat, Consumer Goods Forum. He has a total experience of 20 years leading engineering projects at General Electric Consumer and Industrial group, Caterpillar and Carrier/United Technology.

Rob Lamb

Group Sales and Marketing Director, Star Refrigeration Ltd

Rob joined Star Refrigeration in 1998 as a Technical Sales Engineer after completing a PhD at the University of Leeds, England. He progressed to Sales Manager and then Sales Director before being invited to join the Executive Board of Directors at Star in 2010.

Rob has been involved in the development, promotion and successful installation of natural refrigerant systems and products using both ammonia and CO₂ solutions. The focus of these products is to reduce energy consumption, minimise refrigerant charge and make natural refrigerants accessible to the wider refrigeration and heating markets.

Rob represents Star Refrigeration on the steering committee of eurammon, a European initiative of companies, institutions and individuals who advocate an increased use of natural refrigerants. He is also a member of the Institute of Refrigeration and an associate member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.’

Marc-André Lesmerises

CEO & Co-founder, Carnot Refrigeration

Marc-André graduated in 2003 as a Mechanical Engineer and has since designed several industrial and commercial cooling systems. He is the President and co-founder of Carnot Refrigeration, a company established in 2008, which offers thermodynamic options to customers who are seeking cleaner and greener systems. His achievements include the Sobeys warehouse in Trois-Rivières, several supermarkets and warehouses that are mainly operating with natural refrigerants like CO2 and NH3.

Kathy Loftus

Sustainability Programs, Whole Foods Market

Kathy coordinates sustainability programs, including overall Company impact reporting, as well as directs engineering, energy management and maintenance best practices and green building and strategic energy procurement efforts for Whole Foods Market and has been in this role for six years.

She sits on the Steering Committee for the U.S. DOE’s Commercial Buildings Energy Alliance and coordinates EPA Program partnerships. Kathy also spent eight years as Director of Energy & Environmental Management for Shaw's Supermarkets and was a past chairperson of FMI’s Energy & Technical Services Committee. She has also served as a board member of the Green Building Initiative (GBI-Green Globes) and an advisor for the Grocery sector for the USGBC’s LEED program.

Scott Martin

Director, Business Development and Industry Relations, Hillphoenix

Scott Martin currently serves as Director, Business Development and Industry Relations for Hillphoenix, a Dover Company, located in Conyers, Georgia. A third generation Refrigeration Engineer, Scott received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Polytechnic State University in 1985.

Scott has held a wide variety of industry roles including Product Manager, Director of R&D, Engineering, and most recently Director of Sustainable Technologies. Today, Scott’s focus reflects a strong Hillphoenix commitment to providing product and technology answers that help retailers supply higher quality food products while advancing efforts toward environmental stewardship.

Richard Maruya (with Steven Mella)

Founder and President, A. S. Trust & Holdings & Comstar International Inc

A. S. Trust & Holdings, a Saipan (U.S. Commonwealth) is a company dedicated to the development of energy-efficient, climate-friendly refrigerants.

Richard Maruya has combined his 40-plus years of experience as an automotive technician with his knowledge of traditional CFC-based air-conditioning/refrigeration systems to create a line of multi-blend pure hydrocarbon refrigerants. Working in partnership with independent testing labs and consultant George Whitmyre, he has also designed appropriate, proprietary safety-valve hardware which can be used with flammable refrigerants.

As a life-long resident of Hawaii, Richard received the U.S. EPA Region IX 2008 Environmental Achievement Award for “innovative work developing the Hydro Carbon Refrigerant 188C as an environmentally safe and efficient alternative to the traditional hydrocarbon-based products harmful to the ozone layer.” He holds multiple U.S. and international patents.

Nina Masson

Chief Strategy Advisor, Special Projects, shecco

Nina has been working with shecco for 11 years in various roles, including Deputy Managing Director shecco SPRL and Chief Market Development Officer shecco group. Today, as Chief Strategy Advisor for Special Projects, she is responsible for EU and UN projects for natural refrigerants and sustainable HVAC&R solutions. She holds two Masters’ degrees in Business Management and in Environmental Management. Nina has been the lead author on various publications. She serves as an independent expert for UN and EU agencies on policy analysis, capacity building, renewable energies and energy efficiency.

Patrick Murphy

Director of Testing and Training, Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES)

Prior to joining RSES, the non-profit training, testing and certification organization for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) industry’s professional technicians, Patrick Murphy was the VP, Certifications for North American Technician Excellence (NATE) for 11.5 years.

He was also an instructor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration for seven years with the Union County Vocational-Technical Schools in Scotch Plains, N.J. and operated his own contracting company for ten (10) years prior to education.

During that time, Murphy also was part of the Teacher Assessment Development Team with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Murphy also served as a representative for the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute and was responsible for reviewing nationally published textbooks.

Cindy Newberg

Chief of the Alternatives and Emissions Branch in the Stratospheric Protection Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Cindy Newberg joined the EPA in 1992. Her current portfolio includes: managing the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program; implementing measures that reduce emissions of ozone-depleting substances and their substitutes from the air conditioning and refrigeration sectors; partnering with the U.S. retail food industry through the GreenChill Program to reduce impacts on the ozone layer and climate system; and ensuring refrigerants, foams, and other material are properly disposed through the Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) partnership. She also plays an important role in negotiations and policy initiatives for the United States under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Steven P. Mella

Chief Executive Officer, Comstar International Inc.

Steven Mella is responsible for developing, supervising and administering all operations of ComStar International Inc., the holding company for two chemical manufacturing divisions, IPC and International #1; its investment banking company, ComStar Investment; and its real estate development company, ComStar Capital LLC.

Steven has conceived and negotiated with A.S. Trust & Holding Inc., for the exclusive production and sales rights of their patented, blended hydrocarbon zero ODP and zero Global Warming alternative refrigerants to R134a & R22 for the USA and China markets.

Alexander Cohr Pachai

Technology Manager Industrial Refrigeration, Sabroe Factory, Johnson Controls

Alexander Cohr Pachai started in the refrigeration industry in 1978 and has been working with hydrocarbons since 1995 and CO₂ since 1997. He worked with both R&D, production, sales and installation of systems using these natural refrigerants. Pachai has sold and commissioned the first HC/CO₂ system in Auckland for a supermarket as well as the largest HC/CO₂ supermarket system in the UK. As a pioneer in the field of natural refrigerants, he has also sold, built and commissioned the first larger supermarket system using CO₂ in Denmark and the first large scale HC AC system for computer cooling. Currently he is involved with the phase-out of R22 worldwide and the implementation of natural refrigerants. Pachai has carried out a lot of training for technicians and engineers in using the above-mentioned natural refrigerants in modern refrigeration plants. He is also experienced with the usage of the refrigerants ammonia and water.

Douglas Schmidt

Commercial Cooling Solutions, Embraco North America

Douglas Schmidt is the Sales Manager for Embraco’s commercial products in North America. Prior to joining Embraco in 2007, he was the Engineering Manager at a commercial refrigeration manufacture.

Doug has 20 years of experience at various levels designing, manufacturing and providing leadership in the refrigeration industry. He has lead several new product design projects focusing on energy efficiency and the evolution of refrigerants.

Doug holds a B.S. from Purdue University in Mechanical Engineering with a focus study in thermal science.

John Thompson

Deputy Director of the Office of Environmental Policy (ENV), U.S. Department of State

John Thompson came to the State Department in 2000 as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Diplomacy Fellow, and has worked at the State Department for 12 years. Over that time, his portfolio has covered a range of issues including transboundary air pollution, chemicals management, stratospheric ozone-layer depletion, climate change, environmental assessments, waste management, and international environmental institutions.

John has participated on or led U.S. delegations to dozens of bilateral, regional, and global meetings in these areas. He has played a leading role in negotiations and policy initiatives for the United States under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, as well as ongoing negotiations on a global instrument to address mercury pollution.

Mark Tomooka

Director, Applied Technology Development, Mayekawa USA

Since 2005 Mark Tomooka has worked with companies that emphasize the use of natural refrigerants industrial refrigeration and food processing. He currently leads the US development team working on applying Mayekawa’s extensive natural working fluids experience to new areas like supermarkets, cold storage and food processing.

Mark is a licensed engineer and previously worked in refrigeration contracting. As chief engineer he designed and installed industrial refrigeration systems emphasizing energy and operational efficiency.

Prior to his work in the refrigeration industry, Mark worked in research and development for alternative energy systems.

Robert Wilkins

Vice President Public Affairs, Danfoss

Robert Wilkins is vice president of public affairs for Danfoss, and previously served as president of Danfoss North America. Robert is responsible for advocating energy efficiency and sustainability policies that support industry advancement. In this role, he has worked with the US State Department and Environmental Protection Agency, serving on the India-U.S. task force on HFCs and alternatives.

Robert Wilkins has served on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) since 1998, and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2007, leading the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute as it merged with the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association to form AHRI. He is a member of the Board of the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy and the Policy and Programs Committee for the Alliance to Save Energy.

Keilly Witman

Owner, KW Refrigerant Management Strategy

Keilly Witman is the owner of KW Refrigerant Management Strategy, a consulting firm that helps industry manage the many strategic challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s refrigerant world. Prior to starting her own firm, she worked in the EPA’s Stratospheric Protection Division, which regulates refrigerant sales, use and end-of-life. Keilly has held over 80 webinars on refrigeration and refrigerant management, and co-authored best practice guidelines for refrigerant leak prevention and repair, installation leak tightness and R-22 retrofits. She has written dozens of articles on current topics in refrigerant management and developed tools to help industry calculate the financial and environmental impact of their refrigerant emissions. In 2010, she was named one of the industry's 50 most influential people by Supermarket News. Keilly has a Law Degree and a Master’s in Environmental Policy from Vermont Law School.