Airedale Chiller with Low-GWP HFO Refrigerant to Cool New John Lewis Store
R-1234ze Has a Global Warming Potential Lower Than One, Better Than CO2
LEEDS, United Kingdom — The first UK-manufactured chiller incorporating the low global warming potential (GWP) HFO refrigerant R-1234ze is now cooling shoppers visiting the new £15 million John Lewis department store that opened in York.
Airedale’s TurboChill™ TCC R-1234ze based chiller is the first of its kind to roll off the company’s Leeds production line. One of the “fourth generation” refrigerants, R-1234ze is a hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) based refrigerant rated by the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) with a GWP lower than one, better than CO2. This compares with GWPs of 2,088 and 1,430 respectively for more traditional refrigerants such as R-410A and R-134a. HFO refrigerants break down more readily in the atmosphere than their predecessors; in the case of R-1234ze this process takes just 16.4 days, compared with 14 years for R-134a.
The use of R-1234ze also makes it easier for facilities owners to obtain Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) points for sustainable design. Airedale’s TurboChill free cooling chiller (TCF) with R-1234ze, for example, automatically receives two BREEAM points for its low global warming potential characteristics. In contrast, R-134a TurboChill TCC and TCF variants receive one point for their direct effect life cycle (DELC) CO2 equivalent emissions of ≤ 1,000 kgCO2e/kW cooling capacity and a further point for leak detection and automatic shutdown and pump-down of refrigerant.
The new 92,000-square-foot John Lewis-York department store will be the most sustainable of the 41 John Lewis shops. The shop will have a range of sustainable design elements, such as energy-efficient cooling, low-energy lighting, and solar photovoltaic panels on the roof to generate renewable energy.
For more information, visit www.airedale.com.
Publication date: 6/9/2014
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