18 // Trends
LIDL US STORE WITH HC CASES: ‘BEST OF THE BEST’ In the EPA GreenChill awards ceremony, a Kinston, N.C., Lidl store is the best among all stores certified by the EPA program – and the first to be certified for using mostly self-contained propane cases — By Michael Garry
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Lidl US store in Kinston, N.C., was named the “Best of the Best” GreenChill certified store in a breakfast ceremony at the Food Marketing Institute’s Energy & Store Development Conference in Atlanta last month.
The majority of the cases in the store, both medium- and low-temperature, are self-contained units that use a hydrocarbon refrigerant, with a glycol water-loop system employed to remove heat from cases, said Matt Finnell, national energy manager for Arlington, Va.-based Lidl US (a division of Neckarsulm, Germany-based Lidl), who accepted the award. Finnell did not confirm that the hydrocarbon is propane, though it is widely understood in the U.S. HVAC&R industry that propane (R290) is the refrigerant used. The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is a decade-old voluntary program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program supports leak and charge reduction and the use of advanced refrigeration technology; it also certifies stores that meet certain leak, charge and technology criteria (at Silver, Gold and Platinum levels) over a 12-month period running from July 1-June 30. About 11,000 U.S. supermarkets from all 50 states are in the program, representing about 29% of U.S. stores. Lidl’s Kinston store is the first to receive GreenChill certification for using self-contained cases as its primary refrigeration system. It is also the first of “more than 10” Lidl US stores that have been recognized by GreenChill with Platinum certification. Platinum is the highest certification that the GreenChill Partnership grants a supermarket, based on either extremely low charge and leak rates for HFC refrigeration systems or the use of refrigerants with a GWP under 150.
The Best of the Best recognition goes to the certified store regarded as the “best” of all stores certified during the most recent 12-month period. Since 2012, the award has been given to stores using natural refrigerant systems such as transcritical CO2 or ammonia/CO 2 cascade. (See chart, page 19.) “This award allows us to recognize a lot of innovation in the industry,” said Tom Land, manager of GreenChill, who presided at the awards ceremony. He noted that the Lidl store’s self-contained architecture is “an emerging technology in U.S. food retailing.”
Allows quick reaction A self-contained display-case architecture that covers most or all of a store’s refrigerated and frozen products is used by Lidl and other retailers in Europe. In the U.S. market. retailers generally employ self-contained air-cooled propane cases on a spot basis. The self-contained layout “allows us quick reaction” when setting up a new store, said Finnell. He declined to comment on how much hydrocarbon refrigerant is used in each refrigeration circuit (150 g is the most allowed by law) or whether multiple circuits are used in any of the cases. Some large self-contained cases, such as multi-decks, are known to use multiple propane circuits (each still under 150 g). The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is working on raising its propane charge limit standard to 500 g.
Accelerate America // October 2018