Two environmentally focussed Kiwi businesses, EcoChill and Ceres Enterprises, have come together to create the first ‘green-rated’ cold storage facility in New Zealand.
The two firms have created an environmentally friendly, energy efficient refrigeration system that complements the Green Star philosphy, according to Voxi.co.nz
EcoChill manufactures refrigeration systems for supermarkets, coolstores and processing plants using natural gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), propane and water.
Ceres Enterprises wanted a green refrigeration solutions for its organic produce so EcoChill was a natural fit.
Company director, David King, said the brief to EcoChill was to create a cool room with a volume of over 2550m3, capable of operating down to 20C."
Matthew Darby, owner of EcoChill, said a system of this size requires a significant quantity (30+ kg) of synthetic greenhouse gases, posing massive global warming potential, and significantly more electrical input (for defrosting).
"What EcoChill created is a system that not only meets the operating requirements but uses 80 per cent less refrigerants with no electrical defrost requirements whatsoever. In addition, the refrigerant used is a natural substance, so no synthetic greenhouse gasses are used at all," Darby told Voxi.
"Replacing the synthetic gases with natural refrigerants such as propane and CO2, while using technology to manage the safety issue, can reduce the downside of refrigeration.
"When you take some of that global warming potential away by using refrigerants inside and make it use less power to do that, you’ve got a two-fold benefit to the end user."
For more information about EcoChill’s refrigeration systems, visit www.ecochill.co.nz
- with Voxi.co.nz.
