EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market here said it has received the platinum-level Store Certification Award from the Environmental Protection Agency's GreenChill Partnership for the green refrigeration technology at the store it opened last week in Folsom, Calif.
The Folsom unit is only the second store in California, and one of just four grocery stores in the U.S., to achieve those standards, Fresh & Easy noted.
According to Steve Hagen, director of procurement and engineering for Fresh & Easy, "Environmental responsibility is part of our DNA. We've made a commitment to invest in sustainable technologies from the start."
The store utilizes a Second Nature compact chiller system that uses medium-temperature glycol to condense low-temperature CO2 — the only store in the U.S., to date, using this type of system, according to Hill Phoenix, the Conyers, Ga., company that designs and manufactures refrigeration systems and commercial refrigerated display cases.
A typical supermarket in the U.S. uses approximately 3,500 pounds of refrigerant. The Fresh & Easy Folsom store uses just 70 pounds — a 98% reduction that earned it GreenChill's highest award.
