ATLANTA -- Today’s grocery and convenience stores often include a wide range of prepared-food services and expanded fresh-food products, which creates unique challenges in the design process due to the needed balance between refrigeration, foodservice and HVAC systems. When coupled with the need to create an inviting environment and positive shopping experience for customers, energy efficiency may get overlooked.
However, an energy-efficient store design adds value, reduces expenses and enhances the customer shopping experience. A new publication from leading industry associations provides an integrated approach to achieve such energy efficiency design.
The newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Grocery Stores focuses on sites with medium- and low-temperature refrigerated cases and walk-ins. Click here to download a free copy.
Refrigeration systems consume approximately half of the total energy consumed by a typical grocery store, and they interact with other building systems in a number of ways. One example is the heating load created by refrigerated cases without doors. Humidity control is another major issue. These interactions impact equipment performance and fresh-food perishability.
“Traditionally, the refrigeration and foodservice are considered independently from the rest of the building systems and the HVAC&R is expected to meet the loads,” said Paul Torcellini, chair of the committee that wrote the guide. “An integrated approach looks at the building holistically and addresses issues such as:
- HVAC humidity levels that are critical to the performance of the refrigeration system
- Refrigeration system waste heat that can be used for hot water or conditioning the outside air
- Foodservice operation that generates lots of heat that must be removed.
Adding doors to refrigerated cases reduces uncontrolled cooling, simplifies temperature control and reduces system load. Better management of exhaust hoods and better selection of equipment reduces the foodservice loads. Proper introduction of outside air that is semi-conditioned helps minimize cooking smoke and odors with minimal conditioning. These are just examples of how the pieces need to work together.”
The guide is the fifth in a series to provide recommendations for achieving 50% energy savings over minimum code requirements.
The series was developed by a committee representing a diverse group of energy professionals drawn from ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Department of Energy (DOE). Support and funding was provided by DOE through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
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