Danfoss has opened a new, flagship supermarket which is expected to be approximately 50 per cent more energy efficient compared to a typical supermarket with a first-generation CO2 refrigeration system and no energy efficiency solutions.
It is also expected to be approximately 20-30 per cent more efficient than an equivalent local store already fitted with multiple energy efficiency solutions.
Climate-friendly, super-efficient and loaded with automation solutions, the new ‘Smart Store’ is providing inspiration for food retailers in a world of rising energy costs, emissions, and worsening food losses.
Danfoss Climate Solutions president, Jürgen Fischer, said the store was created to show that it is possible to build a super-efficient facility using world class heating and cooling technology.
He said the new ‘Smart Store’ proves that the future is now.
“This supermarket is purpose-built for the world ahead of us; a world of more urbanization, larger populations, greater energy demands, a growing need for cooling, and efficient food storage,” he said.
While supermarkets and retail food stores are an integral part of communities around the world, they are also big energy consumers.
The average profit margin for a large food retailer is just 1.7 per cent, which puts every operating cost under scrutiny.
Energy is an area where significant savings can be achieved with relatively low investment and good payback times. In fact, the US EPA estimates that one US dollar in energy savings is equivalent to increasing sales by US$59.
The range of new solutions in the ‘Smart Store’ demonstrate the significant savings that can be achieved in supermarkets, with a typical payback time of three to four years.
The Smart Store supermarket demonstrates that it’s not only possible to design and build an energy-efficient supermarket with solutions available today, but it also makes good business sense.
Solar power is the supermarket’s primary energy source with 100 kW solar panels on the building’s roof providing green energy to support the supermarket operations.
Heat capture and reuse is also key to the energy efficiency of the supermarket with up to 90 per cent reduction in supermarket heating costs expected. Excess heat is the world’s largest untapped source of energy.
The ‘Smart Store’ is fitted with state-of-the-art heat recovery units, designed to recover the waste heat from all the refrigeration systems.
The recovered heat is reused to heat up the store and produce domestic hot water, with any additional heat shared with residents of the surrounding town through a district energy network.
Other initiatives such as installing doors on refrigerator and freezer cases will save around a third on energy use, while the choice of LED lighting uses up to 85 per cent less electricity than incandescent bulbs. Automation and monitoring of the smart store adds another layer of energy saving.
The pressure is growing, both on energy demand and costs, and on the need to cut down on food loss. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest emitter behind the US and China, contributing to up to 10 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases.