Roundy's / Hillphoenix Collaborate on Transcritical CO2 Refrigeration System

Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Robert Mariano, left, Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc. is reinvigorating several popular supermarket brands in Wisconsin, Minneapolis/St. Paul and the greater Chicago area. Its family of 160-plus stores includes the Pick ‘n Save, Copps, Rainbow, Mariano’s and Metro Market grocery store brands.

Following the high-profile success of Mariano’s in greater Chicago, the company opened Roundy’s Pick ‘n Save, one of the nation’s greenest supermarkets on January 14, 2014 in Menomonee Falls, WI.

Roundy’s is using the new store to test an array of energy efficient and green technologies including Hillphoenix cases and Clearvoyant LEDs, and a Micro Thermo Full Case Controller and Micro Thermo Transcritical Rack Controller designed by Parker Sporlan specifically for CO₂ systems.

The Menomonee Falls Pick ‘n Save is one of only a handful of stores in the U.S. to incorporate carbon dioxide (CO₂), as a refrigerant alternative to HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) refrigerants.

“The technology does cost more money, but the installation cost is lower than for similar systems we're using elsewhere. Also, CO2 is cheaper on the operation side compared to glycol and other refrigerants,” says James Hyland, left, Roundy’s vice president of investor and corporate communications.

Click through the photo gallery in the upper right to learn more about this project.