Steve Jackson, PermaCold Engineering
‘ Our Planet – Our Responsibility’ PermaCold Engineering has established a track record for implementing green industrial refrigeration projects like low-charge ammonia and CO2. Accelerate America talks to the man behind the mission – By Marc Chasserot and Michael Garry
Contractor PermaCold Engineering, in its design, installation and maintenance of industrial refrigeration systems, prides itself on providing energy-efficient, environmentally safe systems. “We are committed to pursuing the latest technologies and embodying our slogan, ‘Our Planet – Our responsibility,’” the 23-year-old company says on its website. Examples of this approach include PermaCold’s collaboration with Henningsen Cold Storage on its low-charge ammonia refrigeration designs (see page 32), and its consideration of CO2 systems when planning a new facility or retrofit, as well as its focus on capacity optimization and load shedding.
In this interview with Accelerate America at his headquarters in Portland, Ore., Steve Jackson, PermaCold’s president and senior managing partner and a 45-year industry veteran, discusses the company’s strategies and ideals. Accelerate America: How did you get started working with Henningsen Cold Storage on low-charge ammonia systems? Steve Jackson: The Henningsen projects started out with engineers talking. We do an awful lot of work with Henningsen, particularly with Paul Henningsen, the corporate engineer, and Pete Lepschat, engineering services manager. Pete’s an interesting guy – he questions everything. So he asks why do we have 20,000 pounds of ammonia here, 30,000 pounds there – why do we need all of this? So he worked with our vice president Randy Cieloha on reducing that charge.