CONYERS, Ga. - Hill Phoenix, a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial refrigeration systems, has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Ozone Layer Protection Award in the corporate/government category for its leadership in environmental innovation. The company was honored at the EPA’s awards ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

“This means a great deal to everyone at Hill Phoenix because we believe our role as an industry leader means we have a responsibility to lead not only our company, but also our industry, toward sustainability,” said Bill Johnson, Hill Phoenix president and CEO. “Our goal is to balance our long-term commitment to financial responsibility with environmental considerations in every aspect of our business and in every product we manufacture. This award is great affirmation for our team, showing we’re well on our way to meeting that goal.”

Hill Phoenix was recognized by the EPA for being in the forefront of environmental innovation and protecting the Earth’s ozone layer. Through its product development program, the company has designed several new ozone-safe refrigeration technologies for supermarkets and grocery supercenters around the country. For example, Hill Phoenix has designed systems that use no ozone-depleting chemicals and significantly reduce the potential for refrigerant emissions by reducing charge sizes and leaks. The company also has made advancements with its Second Nature® secondary coolant technology, which uses a small primary refrigerant charge, usually less than 1,000 lbs., and food-grade glycol that circulates throughout supermarket cases and coolers to chill perishable items. The design significantly reduces refrigerant emissions, often below 5 percent per year. The newest development is the Second Nature Compact Chiller refrigeration system, which can refrigerate an entire medium temperature load on just a few hundred pounds of non-ozone-depleting refrigerant. The system is said to reduce the refrigerant charge in a supermarket by 95 percent and reduce leaks to below 1 percent throughout the life of the equipment.

In addition to product innovation, Hill Phoenix is a founding partner of EPA’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, an initiative in which companies pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements to protect the ozone layer and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The partnership works with supermarkets and chemical and refrigeration equipment manufacturers to promote the use of retail food refrigeration technologies that reduce emissions of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases by both reducing refrigerant emissions and increasing refrigeration system energy efficiency.

“While we’re proud of the considerable progress we’ve made over the last few years, we see these efforts as simply the beginning of a commitment to continued operational excellence and to developing answers that meet our customers’ needs,” Johnson added.

For more information, visit www.hillphoenix.com.

Publication date: 04/27/2009