Assessing Energy Saving Potential in Large-Scale Food Retail Trade Stores. The Refrigerated Cabinets Case Study

Supermarket chains require the benchmarking and analysis of refriger ation performance as a key point to identify energy efficiency investments with the lowest environmental impact. The present study compares energy consumption and environmental impact using the Building Energy Model (BEM) approach of supermarkets equipped with closed refrigerated cabinets for storage and super markets with traditional open cabinets. Energy saving and environmental impact reduction, obtained through the closure of refrigerated cabinets, their rational management, and effective spatial and functional distribution are assessed. The real hourly profiles of total and refrigeration energy loads, the store opening hours and operating conditions, and the external weather conditions are analyzed. Two case studies in Italy are compared in terms of electrical energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The main findings show that outdoor climate boundary conditions have minimal influence on the energy consumption of food refrigeration. On the other hand, closed display cabinets allow saving about 70% of refrigeration electricity consumption.