Emerson E-Commissioning™ Delivers 10% Energy Savings for A&P Supermarkets

Situation

Supermarkets are among the nation’s most energy-intensive types of commercial buildings.

Refrigeration accounts for more than half of a supermarket’s energy usage; lighting is the second highest usage category. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates electric costs for the supermarket and grocery stores is nearly $4 billion annually. Energy usage has trended upward as store size and operating hours have increased. No wonder many supermarket chains are looking for ways to reduce their utility bills.

Energy conservation and utility cost management have always been priorities at the Great

Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P). To help it achieve these goals, A&P began to look at the option of outsourcing certain energy management activities to an experienced service provider.

To evaluate the potential return on investment, A&P first performed its own pilot project to "energy commission" (audit and tune-up) the refrigeration, lighting and HVAC equipment at 20 stores. The project resulted in an average energy use reduction of 6 percent, with up to 17 percent savings at some stores. A&P determined that outsourcing a broad-scale energy commissioning program to an experienced service provider would pay for itself within a year.

Solution

In August 2002, A&P selected Emerson Climate Technologies’ Retail Services division to provide energy commissioning and remote monitoring services at 150 of its highest energy-using supermarkets in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland. A&P set a November deadline for project completion.

To meet the fast-track deadline, Retail Services’ energy project managers deployed nine two-man "swat" teams of refrigeration contractors who carried out Emerson’s E-Commissioning™ program, a comprehensive, top-to-bottom audit and tune-up of each store’s refrigeration, lighting and HVAC systems. The program proceeded at the rate of 15 to 22 stores a week. At each location, optimum settings for the refrigeration and HVAC systems were documented and re-set. Lighting schedules were adjusted. And equipment was inspected for maintenance problems and inventoried.

One of the most common problems found was low refrigerant levels and high "head pressure" settings for a store’s refrigeration systems. While maintaining increased head pressure is a common, low-cost approach to refrigeration system maintenance, this practice leads to significantly higher energy costs.

As part of the project, Emerson implemented 24/7 remote monitoring of the refrigeration control system alarms, temperature settings, and refrigeration equipment failures at more than 200 A&P stores (which includes the initial 150 stores that Emerson commissioned). Monitoring is overseen by specialists at Emerson’s Retail Services command center in Atlanta, Georgia, who alert local stores of any equipment or temperature problems.

In addition, equipment "set points," including bypasses, are reviewed by Emerson on a monthly basis and compared to the efficiency benchmarks identified during E-commissioning. Emerson has set up a web site that allows A&P’s energy-utility team to track any manual changes made in the set points. A&P and their local service contractors can review these changes to determine if they sap energy efficiency goals.

Results

Emerson’s Retail Services completed its E-Commissioning™ of the 150 stores by the November deadline. The program identified approximately 2,000 energy consumption, maintenance, and operational issues. Through a secure website, Retail Services provided A&P with a complete report and recommendations on correcting the problems. In addition, Emerson provided A&P with a complete inventory of all of the refrigeration and HVAC system components in each store. Since the program’s completion, A&P has documented a 10 percent reduction in kilowatts-per hour energy use at the stores compared to a control group of non-commissioned stores. The supermarket chain estimates the program helped it shave its electric consumption by approximately one million kilowatt hours (kWh) in the five months following the project. A&P is on track to fully recoup its out-of-pocket costs for energy commissioning in less than a year from the project’s completion. A&P also estimates a significant environmental benefit from the project. The reduction of nearly one million kWh in consumption is comparable to removing 1,281 cars from the road for one year or planting 1,755 acres of new trees.

Impressed with the energy savings achieved and ongoing information provided, A&P has asked Emerson to perform its E-Commissioning™ process and begin remote monitoring at nearly 200 additional stores during 2003. Work began in April and will be completed by late August.