Food Lion, Giant Eagle, Whole Foods, Supervalu, Hill Phoenix Deftly Chill For The Environment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its 2009 GreenChill partner awards which include Food Lion, Giant Eagle, Whole Foods, Hill Phoenix, and Supervalu, parent company of Acme, Farm Fresh, Shop ‘n Save, and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy.

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry, working with supermarkets to reduce their emissions of ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerants.

“EPA is proud that our partners are finding solutions to the impact supermarkets have on climate change and the ozone layer. Advancing environmental progress in supermarket refrigeration helps reduce air emissions and greenhouse gases,” said William C. Early, acting regional administrator of EPA’s mid-Atlantic office.

Food Lion, which owns stores mostly along the Eastern Corridor, received a Distinguished Partner Award for contributions to the environmental advances in the supermarket industry. From case studies on new refrigerants to statistics from sub-metering on refrigeration systems that use advanced technologies, Food Lion has pioneered technology and shared its information so others can also benefit.

Giant Eagle, with stores across Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, received the Environmental Achievement Award for best refrigerant emission rate of 7.8 percent, significantly less than the estimated industry average of 25 percent. Giant Eagle also earned awards for Best Corporate Emissions Rate, Superior Goal Achievement, and Stretch Goal Achievement.

As the winner of the Best Emissions Rate Award two years in a row, Giant Eagle is setting the pace in the supermarket industry for refrigerant leak rate reductions. With a corporate-wide refrigerant leak rate below 8 percent, Giant Eagle continues to set a stellar example for industry.

Whole Foods, a nationwide chain of supermarkets, earned the award for Most Improved Emissions Rate. As a GreenChill founding partner, Whole Foods shares GreenChill’s mission to minimize supermarkets’ impact on the Earth’s ozone layer and on climate change.

Another food retailer that can be found nationwide, Supervalu, was recognized for achieving its emissions target in 2008/2009.

Refrigeration manufacturer Hill Phoenix also earned a Distinguished Partner Award for its advanced refrigeration technology, including compact chillers and secondary loop systems.

EPA estimates that if every supermarket in the nation joined GreenChill and reduced its emissions to the current GreenChill average, every year the nation could save the equivalent of 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, 240 tons of potentially depleting ozone emissions, and save $108 million in refrigerant expenses.

GreenChill’s founding food retail partners created baseline measurements of refrigerant emissions in 2007 and set goals to reduce those emissions in 2008. These partners reduced their emissions rate from 13 percent to 11.9 percent in 2008, showing further improvements over the estimated industry average of 25 percent.

GreenChill has a total of 46 partners, including 37 food retail partners with over 6,500 stores in 47 states.

For more information, visit EPA's GreenChill Partnership webpage.