Giant Eagle Again Recognized for Lowest Refrigerant Leak Rate

PHOENIX — For the fourth time in the past five years, Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, has won the award for the best refrigerant emissions rate among participants in the Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership.

The award, announced Monday at the Food Marketing Institute’s Energy & Store Development Conference here, was given to Giant Eagle for achieving the lowest corporate-wide refrigerant leak rate, which was not disclosed at the event, though it is known to be under 10%.

Keilly Witman, manager of the GreenChill partnership presented the award to Jim Galehan, refrigeration and HVAC manager, Giant Eagle, during an early-morning awards ceremony. Witman presented a number of other awards as well: 

Albertsons, a division of Supervalu, earned GreenChill’s Best Certified Store Award for its store in Carpinteria, Calif., which is the first in the nation to use only low-global-warming-potential refrigerants.

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Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, El Segundo, Calif., won the Store Certification Excellence Award: as the company that achieved the most GreenChill store certifications in the past year (23).

Supervalu was named Distinguished Partner (supermarket) as the organization that demonstrated extraordinary leadership and initiative in the past year to help achieve GreenChill’s mission. Witman cited the contributions of George Ronn, senior manager, refrigeration compliance and system controls, Supervalu.

Buehler's Fresh Foods, Wooster, Ohio, won the award for Most-Improved Emissions Rate: recognizing the GreenCHill partner with the most dramatic reduction in its corporate refrigerant emissions rate from the previous year. Hy-Vee, McQuade’s Marketplace, Whole Foods Market and Weis Markets, received Superior Goal Achievement awards for achieving challenging emissions reduction goals this past year.

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Hill Phoenix, Conyers, Ga., earned the Store Certification Excellence Award for non-supermarket Partners, as the  commercial systems manufacturer that installed the most GreenChill certified advanced refrigeration systems in the past year (54 stores). This is the first year this award has been presented.

In addition, David Hinde of Hill Phoenix, who passed away this year, was posthumously named Distinguished Partner (non-supermarket) as the individual who demonstrated extraordinary leadership and initiative in the past year to help achieve GreenChill’s mission. He earned this for his R&D work on commercial technologies that use low GWP refrigerants.

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