While Hotelympia, an event exclusively devoted to the UK’s hotel and catering industry, offered a buffet of delicacies, the sweetest tasting one was the clear shift to hydrocarbons in light commercial refrigeration, replacing the moribund high-GWP HFCs currently still in use.
Hotelympia, the UK’s largest foodservice and hospitality event, is a glitz and glamour event typically known for its display of décor and refined cuisine, but just as essential to the HoReCa industry is the use of refrigeration to preserve and display these treats.
For most of the 26,000 visitors passing through the doors of Hotelympia, hosted at the London ExCeL Centre from 29 February-3 March 2016, their interest in refrigeration would not have gone beyond the glossy and attractive veneers of the units on display. But beneath the surface, there was a clear shift taking place – with refrigeration manufacturers looking to and standardising hydrocarbons to replace the outgoing high GWP-HFCs commonly used in light commercial refrigeration, chiefly R134a and R404A.
Liebherr rewarded in various sectors for long-term hydrocarbons allegiance
“Liebherr was one of the first companie to switch to hydrocarbons all across the brochure” explains Stephen Ongley, National Sales Manager for Great Britain.
As a family-owned company in its 3rd generation, the decision to move to the environmentally friendly refrigerant was in accordance with the Liebherr family’s values: “The environment is top of the Liebherr family’s agenda,” Ongley points out.
While the environment has been on the Liebherr agenda for a long time, increasing legislation in the UK market means that consumers and manufacturers alike are catching up regarding environmental considerations:
This ongoing paradigm shift can be seen at institutions like universities, says Ongley, pointing to growing awareness in the academic sector:
“In universities, where Liebherr sells its medical cabinets, they are much more focused on the environment and energy consumption is treated much more seriously. If you go to some universities, the estate department will pay a levy or rebate to the procurement department if they can prove they are purchasing energy-efficient products. Universities are tasked with ensuring energy consumption is curtailed and there is actually a league table for this.”
In this shift to hydrocarbon-based products, price has been highlighted time and time again as one of the key factors in the decision-making process, particularly in the UK. Some regard the introduction of advanced natural refrigerant-based technology as implicitly more expensive – but Ongley explains how the Liebherr philosophy calls time on this generalisation:
“When the cabinets moved to hydrocarbons, the corresponding price compared to the previous model didn’t go up. The investment by the family for the factory was substantial to subsidise the change. But other brands haven’t made the switch to hydrocarbons because the investment is so great. Where our stand-alone units are built, we have 16 test labs where we measure efficiency and noise to ensure our standards are met.”
Serving up an environmental delight: Viessmann’s accelerating shift to natural refrigerants
Viessmann, typically known for its heating solutions, was among the companies in London to exhibit their refrigeration technology, which they hope will become as closely associated with the Viessmann name as their renowned heating solutions. Nigel Armitage, Viessman’s National Accounts Manager, spoke of Viessmann’s shift to natural refrigerants:
Armitage sees a bright future for natural refrigerants in the catering and commercial refrigeration industry, but in the short term sees a necessary harmonising of policy to deliver full growth and consumer benefits in order to help make the case for energy-efficient technology:
“I’ve been in contact with the Carbon Trust in the UK on how they manage the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) […] regarding the criteria [by which] equipment is automatically qualified for ECA listing. If your cabinet, for instance, gains AAA in the new Eco-Design Directive rating, surely you should get automatic listing in the ECA? But currently there is no tie-up. You need to go through a separate process and it’s a long-winded affair, so we need to harmonise our own local legislation with the wider European legislation. It’s a big challenge for all manufacturers to switch and there is no direct benefit to the consumer in allowances in tax. It’s an opportunity that has been missed.”
As for the increasing visibility of natural refrigerants and other advanced technology, Armitage noted that bigger UK retailers are well aware of the ongoing transition, but that there is not always a clear trickle-down effect, with smaller retailers still looking for direction:
“They typically follow the big boys, so it gives you an interesting paradigm: what equipment do you promote to a smaller independent retailer? How do you help them make the right choice? Do you promote the refrigeration, which is a bit more expensive? Do you promote chemical refrigerants, which have their own history of problems? You have to look at them as an individual company and assess what would benefit them.”
For most of the 26,000 visitors passing through the doors of Hotelympia, hosted at the London ExCeL Centre from 29 February-3 March 2016, their interest in refrigeration would not have gone beyond the glossy and attractive veneers of the units on display. But beneath the surface, there was a clear shift taking place – with refrigeration manufacturers looking to and standardising hydrocarbons to replace the outgoing high GWP-HFCs commonly used in light commercial refrigeration, chiefly R134a and R404A.
Liebherr rewarded in various sectors for long-term hydrocarbons allegiance
“Liebherr was one of the first companie to switch to hydrocarbons all across the brochure” explains Stephen Ongley, National Sales Manager for Great Britain.
As a family-owned company in its 3rd generation, the decision to move to the environmentally friendly refrigerant was in accordance with the Liebherr family’s values: “The environment is top of the Liebherr family’s agenda,” Ongley points out.
While the environment has been on the Liebherr agenda for a long time, increasing legislation in the UK market means that consumers and manufacturers alike are catching up regarding environmental considerations:
“The culture is changing, this generation is coming through and they are very serious about all aspects of the environment. The culture is definitely changing in the UK.”
This ongoing paradigm shift can be seen at institutions like universities, says Ongley, pointing to growing awareness in the academic sector:
“In universities, where Liebherr sells its medical cabinets, they are much more focused on the environment and energy consumption is treated much more seriously. If you go to some universities, the estate department will pay a levy or rebate to the procurement department if they can prove they are purchasing energy-efficient products. Universities are tasked with ensuring energy consumption is curtailed and there is actually a league table for this.”
In this shift to hydrocarbon-based products, price has been highlighted time and time again as one of the key factors in the decision-making process, particularly in the UK. Some regard the introduction of advanced natural refrigerant-based technology as implicitly more expensive – but Ongley explains how the Liebherr philosophy calls time on this generalisation:
“When the cabinets moved to hydrocarbons, the corresponding price compared to the previous model didn’t go up. The investment by the family for the factory was substantial to subsidise the change. But other brands haven’t made the switch to hydrocarbons because the investment is so great. Where our stand-alone units are built, we have 16 test labs where we measure efficiency and noise to ensure our standards are met.”
Serving up an environmental delight: Viessmann’s accelerating shift to natural refrigerants
Viessmann, typically known for its heating solutions, was among the companies in London to exhibit their refrigeration technology, which they hope will become as closely associated with the Viessmann name as their renowned heating solutions. Nigel Armitage, Viessman’s National Accounts Manager, spoke of Viessmann’s shift to natural refrigerants:
“We need CO2 for DX systems as well as a pumped option, R290 on plug-ins. As a display case manufacturer, we don’t have a preference for what we use but we are moving towards R290 as a standard and imposing penalties on those who wish to use chemical refrigerants.”
Armitage sees a bright future for natural refrigerants in the catering and commercial refrigeration industry, but in the short term sees a necessary harmonising of policy to deliver full growth and consumer benefits in order to help make the case for energy-efficient technology:
“I’ve been in contact with the Carbon Trust in the UK on how they manage the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) […] regarding the criteria [by which] equipment is automatically qualified for ECA listing. If your cabinet, for instance, gains AAA in the new Eco-Design Directive rating, surely you should get automatic listing in the ECA? But currently there is no tie-up. You need to go through a separate process and it’s a long-winded affair, so we need to harmonise our own local legislation with the wider European legislation. It’s a big challenge for all manufacturers to switch and there is no direct benefit to the consumer in allowances in tax. It’s an opportunity that has been missed.”
As for the increasing visibility of natural refrigerants and other advanced technology, Armitage noted that bigger UK retailers are well aware of the ongoing transition, but that there is not always a clear trickle-down effect, with smaller retailers still looking for direction:
“They typically follow the big boys, so it gives you an interesting paradigm: what equipment do you promote to a smaller independent retailer? How do you help them make the right choice? Do you promote the refrigeration, which is a bit more expensive? Do you promote chemical refrigerants, which have their own history of problems? You have to look at them as an individual company and assess what would benefit them.”
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By hydrocarbons21.com team (@hydrocarbons21)
Mar 10, 2016, 10:14
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