The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) has opened registration for the first two events of its 2025–26 Natural Refrigerant Training Summit in California. The free training sessions are part of R-TRADE, NASRC’s workforce development initiative to support technician recruitment, training, and retention in the natural refrigerants sector.
The season begins November 4–6, 2025, in Concord, California, with foundational training on CO2 and propane systems. A follow-up session focused on CO2 Transcritical Booster system startup will take place December 4–5, 2025, in Stockton, California. The Stockton workshop is co-hosted with Pacific Gas & Electric Energy Centers, while the Concord event is co-hosted with UA Local 342.
Both events include technical training from manufacturers, an expo on current natural refrigerant technologies, and a career fair for R/HVAC students.
“The training series is the cornerstone of R-TRADE, offering comprehensive training ranging from essential knowledge to specialized, real-world expertise,” said Morgan Vanzo, NASRC senior director. “We provided over 10,000 hours of classroom and hands-on training last season; we hope to make this our biggest season yet.”
Additional summit dates are scheduled for Poughkeepsie, New York (February 10–12, 2026), St. Louis, Missouri (March 10–12, 2026), and Irwindale, California (April 21–23, 2026), with registration opening later this year.
The 2025–26 training season is funded by Elite Sponsors including Albertsons, Amazon, Costco, Kroger, and Walmart. The California events are supported by the California Air Resources Board’s F-gas Reduction Incentive Program.
