A Constant State of Change

Life is a challenge. And if you operate a commercial refrigeration business, some days you feel as if you've lived a dozen lives in a 24-hour period. There's little margin for error, and much to consider when maintaining refrigeration systems that are essential to human health and safety, and around which are swirling many significant issues.

The low and medium temperature world is influenced by customer quests for the utmost in efficiency. Service is becoming more often based on true customer/contractor partnerships for the long run into a somewhat uncertain future. Technology requires technicians to be learning something new every day. Refrigerants are held up to constant review, and energy is on everyone's mind.

ContractingBusiness.com spoke to leading-edge contractors and manufacturers to learn the major influences shaping the commercial refrigeration industry’s service and technology sectors in the coming years.

Technicians and Technology
You make or break your business in the field. Therefore, you can't be without quality technicians, insists Stan Shumbo, vice president and co-owner, Eastern Refrigeration Co., Colchester, CT. Its specialties include supermarket refrigeration.

"Your technicians must be up to speed on new technologies, from computer systems to new refrigerants. Second, there must be good communications between service technicians, dispatchers, and service managers. Their ability to communicate well is critical."

Shumbo says high-efficiency equipment is having the greatest impact on training and the industry as a whole. This includes super-efficient variable speed fan motors, and stretching the efficiency of coils, display cases, and walk-in coolers.

"Everything today is computer driven. We're seeing electronic expansion valves (EEVs) becoming standard," Shumbo says. Reducing refrigerant charges by adopting new configurations is also becoming an essential knowledge base. Next comes the secondary technology, which is helping to get refrigerant out of the system, using secondary coolant such as glycol or carbon dioxide (CO2) to reduce the refrigerant charge and streamline carbon footprints.

Bigger Customers
Today, constant technology refresher courses are paired with a need to be aware of customer relations. In the supermarket realm, the bosses have gotten bigger.

"Looking across the broad base of my customers, I see that most used to be independently owned. Now, 80% to 85% of those stores are corporate-owned," Shumbo says. "You don't have the same one-on-one relationship. You interact with a manager, but they're not the 'owner.' That's the biggest change I've seen. My role is simplified when I can show my capability, and build rapport. Your expertise makes their job easier."

Specialized Contractors Must be Nimble
J.R. Hutchinson is vice president of technical operations for ISI Commercial Refrigeration, Dallas, TX. From three regional offices, ISI installs and services commercial freezers and refrigerators for hospitals, hotels, restaurants, and cafeterias across the state. Hutchinson has also seen lots of change in three decades of experience. Like Shumbo, he also sees ownership consolidation.

"Thirty years ago, the industry was populated by many small, independent companies working on relatively few pieces of complex equipment. Now, we see fewer small companies replaced by larger, specialized companies," he says. "Equipment, too, is more specialized and computerized. Energy restrictions are in play, driven by standards established in California. Refrigeration equipment has become substantially more sophisticated, very quickly."

In order to survive, Hutchinson says, small, less nimble companies must adopt new methods and technologies.

European Influence, U.S. Ingenuity Shaping Future
"Global" is an important concept to remember as we move forward. While it may not be all that palatable, European methods are encroaching on the way U.S. companies perform.

"Europe is on the forefront, as far as regulating hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) out of use, as are South America and Australia," says Robert Delventura, vice president of global innovations, Heatcraft Refrigeration Products, Stone Mountain, GA.

Delventura says Heatcraft engineers are helping contractors as they wrestle with terms such as, "Life Cycle Climate Performance" (LCCP), which refers to a balance between efficiency and global warming potential (GWP).

"We want to optimize the energy efficiency of a system as well as its environmental impact," Delventura says. Much of the refrigerant research and development activity in Europe is related to CO2 cascade systems.

"In Australia and Europe, they're experimenting with a cascade system that will use R-134A on the high side, and CO2 on the low side. That keeps the CO2 from going transcritical," Delventura says.

"Cascade systems are used in U.S. One of the differences in working with CO2 in summer conditions is that it will go transcritical unless you cascade it, which means you can't condense it," he explains. "You need a gas cooler instead of a condenser, but that creates inefficiencies. So, to get around that, you'll see a cascade system that uses CO2 on the low side. You'll have the benefits of CO2 and its low very GWP, without the inefficiencies of going transcritical."

Bill Almquist, president, Almcoe Refrigeration, Dallas, TX, and the 2009 Contracting Business Commercial Refrigeration Contractor of the Year, believes large direct expansion racks with heat exchangers and a secondary fluid of glycol/water are the next big trends in medium temperature refrigeration.

"These systems minimize refrigerant charge and installation costs (ABS piping is used for secondary fluid). The first cost might be higher, but cost of ownership is lower due to the smaller refrigerant charges," he says. "Secondary fluid leaks are relativly inexpensive to repair, and the single pump staion is a lower cost than multiple stations."

Sweet Dreams for Customers
And what, perhaps above all else, do harried end-user customers want? A good night's sleep, knowing that their stores' systems are up-to-date, compliant with regulations, and as energy effcient as possible. It comes down to you, the contractor, and your initiative.