Refrigeration plays an essential role in preserving the freshness of fruit juices and meats in supermarket display cases. However, it consumes a great deal of energy—up to 50% of a supermarket’s total energy consumption—and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, a result of this high-energy consumption and inevitable refrigerant leaks.

These leaks, originating in the kilometres of piping that connect the mechanical room to the refrigerated and frozen foods display cases, have an impact on the environment. In a bid to do its part to protect the environment, Provigo Inc., and the whole team from the Loblaw banner, has taken the initiative of equipping its new Repentigny store with innovative technologies aiming to improve energy efficiency and, ultimately, reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Located in Repentigny, the new 10,000-square-metre (102,000-square-foot) Loblaws’ principal innovation lies in the installation of a secondary-loop refrigeration technology integrated to the heating and ventilation system.

This technology allows heat rejected by the refrigeration system to be recovered for store heating demands while ensuring a good cold distribution to the display cases, ensuring food quality and customer comfort. The new system, product of a partnership between the private and public sectors financed by the Technology Early Actions Measures (TEAM) program, is also respectful of the environment. Since it allows the reduction of synthetic refrigerant use by 75% and total energy consumption by 18% compared with a typical recent Loblaws supermarket in Canada, these innovative technologies lower greenhouse gas emissions by around 75%, and make it possible to adapt systems to Canadian climatic conditions. “We are proud to see one of our supermarkets become an environmental showcase in the area of refrigeration and energy efficiency. In addition to doing our part to improve the greenhouse-effect situation, we are gaining a simpler operating system, reducing our energy and maintenance costs, and ensuring our equipment’s reliability and durability,“ says Daniel Tremblay, Senior Vice President Procurement, Merchandising and Trade Relations, Provigo inc.

The objective of the secondary-loop system, the foundation of this innovation, is threefold: to reduce refrigerant loads and leaks, facilitate heat recovery, and obtain a better quality of cold to limit food spoilage.

Compared with traditional technology that consumes up to 2,000 kg of synthetic refrigerant flowing through kilometres of pipes, the secondary-loop system uses as low as 100 to 200 kg of refrigerant that remain contained in the mechanical room, thereby reducing the risk of leaks. The refrigerant cools a secondary fluid, with no environmental impact, which circulates in the pipes leading to the supermarket’s refrigerated display cases. This system is more stable, eliminating temperature fluctuations and thereby ensuring better food quality offered in the display cases. The system is also more energy efficient, as it makes it easy to use the heat rejected by the refrigeration system to heat the building, generating significant energy savings.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a formal concern of the Canadian Government, a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol. Although Canada is only responsible for 2.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, it nevertheless ranks third in greenhouse gas emissions per capita, next to the United States and Australia. A concrete example of the Government of Canada’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Repentigny Loblaws supermarket pilot project is part of the Refrigeration Action Program for Buildings (RAPB). Developed by the CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Varennes (CETC-Varennes)—one of three Natural Resources Canada centres specialized in energy efficiency—the RAPB expects that similar innovative technologies will be implemented, by 2012, in 40% of new or renovated buildings housing supermarkets and ice and curling rinks.

For more information about the innovative refrigeration system at the Loblaws supermarket in Repentigny, see:

• the case study (413 KB);
• the technologies and practices that are set up.

To learn more about the RAPB, please visit the CETC-Varennes' Energy Efficient Buildings section and to gain a better understanding of the greenhouse gas phenomenon, visit the Government of Canada's Climate Change Website.