A refrigerant manufacturer and supermarket chains headquartered in Arizona, Iowa, and Ohio are the latest to be involved in the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ICOR

Indianapolis-based refrigerant producer, ICOR International Inc., announced that it has been accepted into the GreenChill Partnership, an EPA alliance with the supermarket industry to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

“Our company brings several decades of valuable ACR system conversion experience to the partnership,” said Dave Callender, field technical support supervisor for ICOR and assigned to represent ICOR in the GreenChill Partnership. “My years of experience as a refrigeration supervisor for a large supermarket chain, combined with the numerous commercial system conversions I have assisted with since working with ICOR, give me the ability to bring a real hands-on perspective to the GreenChill discussion,” said Callender.

Callender is a 30-year veteran of the ACR industry. Originally introduced to the trade while serving in the U.S. Navy Seabees, he is NATE-certified and recognized as a Certificate Member Specialist (CMS) for Commercial Refrigeration with the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society.

ICOR International provides technical assistance to contractors and equipment owners who are converting their existing ACR systems to non-ozone depleting potential HFC alternative refrigerants R-422B or R-422C.

SPROUTS

Sprouts Farmers Market, based in Phoenix, has received two more silver store certification awards from the EPA for building stores with reduced impact on the Earth’s ozone layer and climate system, compared to typical grocery stores.

“Sprouts Farmers Market is committed to continuing our efforts in green refrigeration technology, focusing on the reduction of emissions of harmful HFCs and the reduction of our carbon footprint,” said Jerry Stutler vice president of construction and facility engineering for Sprouts.

New Sprouts stores in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Centennial, Colo., have earned silver-level certification from GreenChill. “These are not easy awards to achieve, and it takes a team effort from all involved, from the refrigeration engineers to the installation crews in the field,” said Stutler. “I am proud of our team and our accomplishments and continue our commitment to being an environmentally conscious neighbor and grocer.”

Other Sprouts stores with GreenChill certificates are in Carmel Mountain Ranch, Calif., and Round Rock, Texas.

HY-VEE

Hy-Vee Inc., headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, has announced that the company is partnering with the GreenChill program. “Hy-Vee’s participation in GreenChill underscores the company’s commitment to sustainability in all aspects of our operations,” according to Michael Smith, Hy-Vee’s director of real estate & sustainability. “From the design and construction of our stores to our energy conservation, waste reduction, and product sourcing efforts, Hy-Vee has adopted a host of Earth-friendly practices that promote the well-being of customers, employees, communities, and the global environment.”

BUEHLER

In an announcement made April 30, the EPA said that Buehler Food Markets Inc., headquartered in Wooster, Ohio, became the first Ohio-based supermarket chain to join the GreenChill program.

Buehler’s opened its first store in 1929. It now has 13 locations throughout the state.

Company Vice President Scott Buehler signed the GreenChill agreement. Becky Foster, director of construction and maintenance, will represent Buehler’s in the partnership. “GreenChill is just another part of our sustainability program that includes new technologies to reduce power consumption, water consumption, recycle our food waste into compost we sell in our stores, recycling centers, building green for our new ACE hardware in New Philadelphia, Ohio, and burning our used fryer oil as fuel in our diesel trucks,” Buehler said. “As technology develops we will continue to improve our sustainability efforts.”

JOINING GREENCHILL

By joining GreenChill, stores commit to:

• Require that all of its new and remodeled stores use environmentally friendlier refrigerants;

• Reduce the amount of refrigerant they use and eliminate refrigerant leaks; and

• Adopt green refrigeration technologies, strategies, and practices.

In an announcement made June 8, EPA said that the GreenChill Partnership, launched in 2007, has 49 partners with close to 5,500 stores throughout the nation. GreenChill’s supermarket partners’ refrigerant leak rates are about 50 percent lower than the industry average, the EPA estimates.

Publication date: 09/06/2010