Danfoss' 25th EnVisioneering Symposium, “Refrigerants2Sustainability: Risks, Options, & Opportunities in Commercial Refrigeration,” addressed how an increasing industry-wide focus on refrigerants and energy is driving changes in the design, deployment, and maintenance of refrigeration equipment and supermarkets.

Honeywell’s Solstice®N40 (R-448A) refrigerant for supermarket refrigeration has been named a finalist for the R&D 100 Awards. The R&D 100 Awards, sponsored by R&D Magazine, honor the 100 most innovative technologies and services of the past year.

The recent refrigerant delistings made under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program have made some customers — especially in the supermarket refrigeration sector — skittish about making a major investment in new refrigeration equipment.

With thousands of dollars of perishable product under refrigeration at any given time, restaurant owners and managers prize speed of service above all else from their refrigeration contractors. 

Trends in supermarkets can often provide insights into changes to come for the rest of the commercial refrigeration world, and — as is the case industry-wide — refrigerants are on the minds of many in the supermarket sector.

The following is excerpted from “Case Study: Transcritical Carbon Dioxide Supermarket Refrigeration Systems,” which was prepared by Navigant Consulting Inc. for the Better Buildings Alliance; Building Technologies Office; and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).