The new Stop & Shop Supermarket in West Harford, CT contains CO2 refrigeration. The 38,000 sq.ft. store is the first supermarket in Connecticut to make use of CO2 technology, which is much less costly and more environmentally friendly. The adoption of CO2 is another in Stop & Shop’s green initiatives, which include a solar powered store.
Much of the technology in use in store’s construction was first tried by the Stop and Shop Low Energy Superstore (LESS) project, a store built in Foxboro, MA, in 2001. The LESS development team placed energy efficiency priorities on advanced refrigeration systems and heating. For the build, waste heat from refrigeration units was used to preheat domestic hot water and provide direct store heating. HVAC equipment for the project was provided by Carrier.
The refrigeration systems feature designs that minimize the HFC refrigerant charge for the store, and reduce its carbon footprint by an equivalent of over 500 tons of CO2 per year. This is accomplished by using a secondary coolant for all medium temperature refrigerated fixtures, and a natural refrigerant, carbon dioxide, for the low temperature fixtures.