George Baker helps Tesco cut energy bill by 48%

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: George Baker helps Tesco cut energy bill by 48%.

George Barker, the UKs leading commercial refrigeration company, which has pioneered Natural Refrigerant systems has helped Tesco create their latest eco-friendly superstore.

The store at Cheetham Hill, Manchester has been built using Tescos new low carbon blueprint which will provide a foundation for stores built in the UK going forward.

The new 5,000 sq ft store is part of Tescos Climate Change Programme and plan for the future to build low carbon stores. Through a combination of energy efficiency measures, the stores carbon footprint is 70% less than an equivalent store built in 2006.

These measures will also deliver significant savings for the company with a 48% reduction of the stores energy bill based on 2006 baselines.

George Barker, with parent company EPTA, a leading European group and worldwide partner in the commercial refrigeration sector for food retail multiples, have introduced a refrigeration system using one of the worlds most natural gases carbon dioxide.

EPTA, which also owns the Costan, Bonnet Nv, BKT and EuroCryor refrigeration brands, is a world leader in the development of innovative CO2 refrigerant technologies to reduce environmental pollution and save energy.

Tesco chose EPTA and George Barker for their refrigerating systems, due to their transcritical CO2 technology for which the company is market leader. As a result carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced by 450 tonnes a year (the equivalent of the pollution produced by 150 cars doing an annual average mileage of 12,500.

EPTA has also introduced into Tescos Cheetham Hill store a more rational management of environmental resources by installing doors on most of the chill refrigerated display units, use of special film to the glass of freezers, LED lighting and using recyclable materials for the trolley bumpers.

Commenting on the Cheetham Hill store, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Executive Director, Corporate and Legal Affairs at Tesco, said: The Cheetham Hill store is an exciting development in Tescos long term plans to reduce significantly the carbon footprint of its stores by 2020. The new blueprint, which will provide a foundation for future stores being built in the UK, demonstrates our commitment to tackling climate change. It will also considerably reduce store energy costs going forward.

John Austin Davies, Director of George Barker and EPTA Product Marketing Director, said: Tescos climate commitments are proving that it is possible to combine new technology and good business sense to make dramatic reductions in their carbon footprint. This new blueprint store design, using EPTAs cutting edge Natural Refrigerant refrigeration technology, is an example that we hope other businesses will follow.

There is a worldwide focus on commercial refrigeration systems, due to the conventional fluids used having a very high Greenhouse Warming Potential. Epta has developed natural refrigerant systems that reduce the harmful effect of leakage by more than 99%.

In 2006 George Barker installed the first transcritical Natural Refrigeration system in the UK, and has followed this with several more installations using this highly innovative technological breakthrough.