Make Utility Rebates Part of Your Energy Improvement Efforts
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 is imperative to protect grocers’ already thin profit margins. End-use energy is the second highest operating expense after labor for food retailers, and the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that every dollar saved in electricity has the same impact on [...]
Prepare for Refrigerant Regulation Changes; Future-Proof Your Business
EPA’s SNAP Phaseout Schedule for Alternative Refrigerants The wait is over. Food retailers and the refrigeration industry were in a holding pattern for months while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considered its next move on alternative refrigerants. Then, in mid-July, a 90-page ruling published in the Federal Register (pp. 42870-42959) confirmed what Hillphoenix and other industry experts had anticipated: Widely used refrigerants R-404A and R-507A would join the list of alternatives being phased out under the EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program. Now retailers and manufacturers have the facts. Like the ruling or not, the industry finally can take [...]
New LEDs will have you seeing red in all the right ways
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 ideal look and feel, LED’s superior performance at lower temperatures and greater energy efficiency compared with fluorescent lights have been a real win for grocers in the freezer aisle. LEDs have finally surpassed fluorescents in color fidelity. The good news [...]
Before and after: Speedy fixes for merchandising mistakes
By Margie Proctor Hillphoenix Marketing & Design Specialist With no budget and only the merchandise on hand, I partnered with an independent supermarket customer to overhaul a closed-case display. The store’s merchandiser was focused on SKUs she was responsible for and spread the product too thin — so the set looked picked over. By cross merchandising, we were able to create a full set and increase sales. Giving customers a visual cue that “This goes great with that!” works just as well behind doors as in open cases. You can see the results in these before-and-after photos. Adding baskets and shelf [...]
Revealing food merchandisers’ secrets for closed-case refrigerated displays
By Margie Proctor Hillphoenix Marketing & Design Specialist Here’s a merchandising secret that’s kept far too well: Putting doors on refrigerated cases will enhance your displays. Skeptical, are you? Well, keep reading to discover just how compelling closed-case merchandising can be. Create a food gallery. The visual stimuli on store shelves can be overwhelming to consumers. All those shapes and colors can create sensory overload — especially when a shopper is strolling past vast stretches of open refrigerated cases. But add doors to those cases, and you define the field of vision. Shoppers see one area at a time and [...]
Recommissioning cuts energy, improves store environment
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 refrigeration and HVAC systems. When any one of a store’s systems isn’t operating optimally – at designed specifications – it affects the performance of the other systems and the overall store environment. It also significantly increases energy expenses. Migration away [...]
Hillphoenix earns fifth EPA GreenChill Award
Hillphoenix congratulates all the 2015 GreenChill Environmental Achievement Award recipients who, along with Hillphoenix, were recognized by EPA Greenchill at the GreenChill Partnership’s annual Achievement Awards on September 29. Hillphoenix, a pioneer in designing environmentally sustainable refrigeration systems, received a 2014-2015 Achievement Award – Store Certification Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership program. It’s the company’s fifth GreenChill award since the program launched in 2007. For the third year in a row, Hillphoenix was the only non-grocery recipient of a GreenChill Store Certification Excellence award. “We are honored by this recognition from EPA GreenChill. Since GreenChill was established [...]
Use food demonstrations to connect with customers
By Justin Webster Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist On September 22-23, Hillphoenix hosted Supermarket Sense, a gathering of industry experts designed to educate food retailers about current and future trends — and how to make the most of them. One of the sessions I led was called “How to Engage Customers and Increase Shopper Dependency.” We covered everything from shopper loyalty to connecting with customers from different generations. One thing we talked about was the power of product sampling. Here are some tips you can use to improve your in-store demos.
Shedding light on cost-effective energy reduction in convenience stores
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 commercial building. For C-stores that sell gas, energy intensity can soar to as much as 94 kilowatt-hours per square foot or higher due to greater plug loads (e.g., coffee makers, slushy machines), outdoor lighting, and gas canopy lighting, all compressed [...]
Planning an effective retrofit strategy starts with benchmarking
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 the industry’s thin profit margin, it’s estimated that it takes $18 in sales to pay off $1 of the electric bill.* The good news is there are several system retrofits and other energy upgrades that significantly improve electricity efficiency – [...]