By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Download Infographic Supermarkets are the most electricity-intensive commercial buildings, using an average of 51.5 kilowatt-hours per square foot per year at a cost of about $3.70 per square foot per year. In terms of operating budget, energy is the second largest expense for food retailers after labor. In fact, given [...]
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Our relationship with food is changing. Cooking shows, celebrity chefs, open kitchen designs. Instagram photos. Grocers bringing alternatives into the mainstream. The resurgence of the farmers market. The list goes on and on. For a mix of health, social, economic, and sustainability reasons, people are engaging more deeply with food. [...]
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Over the past decade or so, grocers have been reaping merchandising benefits of LED lighting in freezer cases. Despite initial limitations in LED color quality and total light output, both its cooler color temperatures and uniform illumination have literally cast frozen foods in a favorable light. Along with creating the [...]
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix In the commercial building space, grocery stores rank #1 for energy intensity, using more energy per square foot than even health care facilities. As consumer demand for more fresh and frozen foods grows, energy intensity will too, with more store space devoted to refrigerated and freezer cases. Improving energy efficiency [...]
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix The food store environment is complex, with the various building systems essentially working against each other to maintain optimal conditions. General illumination competes with lighting used to enhance merchandising. Refrigeration competes with maintaining comfortable aisle temperatures for customers. Seasonal and daily weather variables further complicate the mix, affecting loads on [...]
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix There are more than 152,000 convenience stores in the U.S. and about 80 percent of them sell gas. The food retail part of the business alone makes these stores energy intensive. Across the industry, food stores use an average of 51.5 kilowatt-hours per square foot – more than any other [...]
Last month, we discussed the lack of effective performance baselines for natural refrigeration systems and how that makes it difficult for utilities to provide natural refrigeration incentives. In this article, we’ll talk about the second challenge faced by end users and utilities: the lack of good modeling software for natural refrigeration systems. When seeking incentives from utilities for natural refrigeration, [...]
If you’re going to reward improvement, you need a baseline against which to measure it. Therein lies one of the many challenges facing refrigeration end-users seeking utility incentives for upgrades and new installations. As utilities, manufacturers and end-users work together to make newer, more energy efficient equipment more affordable through incentives, the lack of standard industry benchmarks makes the process [...]
By Leigha Joyal Energy Analyst, Hillphoenix Food retail is among the most electricity intensive commercial enterprises, and store owners want to reduce their consumption and their bills. Utilities want to see that happen, too. Containing consumption is more cost effective for utilities than expanding the electric grid. That’s why they have incentive programs that defray some of the costs of [...]
By Keilly Witman KW Refrigerant Management Strategy LLC Much has been written over the past few months about the potential for utility incentives based on natural refrigerant use in supermarkets. The word “potential,” as well as the nature of the articles, suggests that utility incentives for naturals are a thing of the future. Not so! There are plenty of examples [...]