Kenfield are playing a key role in supermarket giant Aldi’s drive to make energy savings and reduce carbon emissions. Aldi chose the Birmingham-based company’s innovative and award-winning K750 insulated secondary door for upgrades to its coldrooms in stores in the UK and Ireland.
safe and easy access.
Typically, Aldi has 16 plug-in type chest freezers in each store, historically operating on R404A (Global Warming Potential of 3922). These freezers are being replaced with highly efficient alternatives operating on R290 (GWP of 3). The new freezers have cut carbon emissions by 2,489 TCO2 across the Aldi estate and this breaks down to more than 3.3 TCO2 per store.
Installing the highly efficient Kenfield K750 inner coldroom doors has produced carbon emission savings of a further 1,238 TCO2 – that’s 1.65 TCO2 per store. Aldi is on track to achieve carbon neutrality in its UK and Ireland operations by the end of 2019 following investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.
Kenfield managing director Tom Moloney said: “We are proud of the contribution we have made to the Aldi programme of energy savings across its estate. This has allowed us to highlight the effectiveness of the Kenfield K750 Insulated Door in making efficiencies. Generally, our customers have reported a reduction in their energy consumption of more than 50 per cent and we are pleased to report that the benefits of this have been felt not only at Aldi but by other key players in the supermarket and food processing industries.”
Aldi’s work in rolling out the use of natural refrigerants across its stores to cut emissions won the Retail Project of the Year at the 2018 RAC Cooling Industry Awards. Kenfield won the Refrigeration Product of the Year (Components and Peripherals) and Retail Initiative of the Year.
The programme involved the installation of CO2 and R290 refrigeration systems. Further carbon emission savings were also made with the introduction of LED lighting.
The consultant for the Aldi programme was Wave Refrigeration of Keighley, West Yorkshire, a business that has widespread experience of working in the retail, refrigeration and wider building services sector.
] Wave Refrigeration director James Bailey said: “Installing secondary doors is a major step in making energy savings. It makes little sense to spend money on an efficient refrigeration system only for the plant to be working overtime as much of the cold air is lost through doors left open for periods throughout the day.
“The Kenfield K750 Insulated Secondary Door made a real difference in the Aldi coldrooms’ project. The energy savings delivered by installing insulated secondary doors can have a significant effect on the bottom line for a major supermarket operation like Aldi.”
Since the K750’s launch in 2013, thousands have been fitted in cold stores, chillers and freezers across the UK, bringing new efficiencies and proven savings to the supermarket sectors where costs are always under the microscope.
Mr Moloney added: “In some cold stores and freezers, doors are left open to allow ease of movement for staff. These doors can be heavy, illfitting and a hazard to employees.
This leads to cooling systems having to work harder and results in increased energy costs which are passed on to the customer.”
Light secondary doors have no sharp surfaces, can be easily pushed through and close automatically. They ensure that the temperature inside the freezer or cold store is maintained at an optimum level.
When the outer door is left open a constant temperature can still be maintained throughout the plant. The future is bright for energy saving doors and they can make a huge difference to bottom line savings in a multi-store operation.
KENFIELD LIMITED
Tel: 0121 451 3051
Email: sales@kenfield.com
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