1. Vertical refrigerated cabinets & island freezers

Vertical refrigerated cabinets and island freezers are typically responsible for a large share of a store’s electricity use. In the pilot they are analysed line by line, with a focus on technical condition, geometry and position in the layout.

• Full inventory of all vertical cabinets and island freezers by length, product group, year of installation and refrigerant.
• Identification of the most problematic units (age, icing, unstable temperatures, excessive noise or leakage).
• Scenario: replacement of the worst performers, upgrade of selected units and optimisation of set-points, defrost and night covers.
• Layout corrections where cabinets currently blow “cold corridors” directly into main traffic aisles.

2. Smart Micro-Door System™ for open cabinet lines

When sales logic or architecture require open cabinets, the Smart Micro-Door System™ offers a way to reduce cold spillage and energy losses without fully enclosing the line with heavy doors.

• Selection of cabinet lines suitable for Smart Micro-Door retrofit (geometry, traffic, product type, visibility requirements).
• Design of Micro-Door modules that respect the store’s visual identity and ergonomics for customers and staff.
• Installation in phases so that the line can remain in operation with minimal disturbance.
• ΔE* comparison of open vs. Micro-Door configuration – effect on energy, comfort in the aisle and product temperature stability.

The Smart Micro-Door System™ is used only in line with the author’s licensing conditions and Green AC&DC Energy™ quality logic.

3. Walk-in cold rooms & back-of-house refrigeration

Back-of-house areas often hide significant potential for savings and improved reliability. The pilot aligns front-of-store cabinets with walk-in cold rooms, preparation areas and technical rooms.

• Check of insulation, doors, lighting and internal air distribution in walk-in cold rooms.
• Review of operating regimes (temperatures, schedules, defrost) and coordination with logistics and deliveries.
• Consolidation of several small, inefficient rooms into fewer, better-performing ones where appropriate.
• Assessment of technical room ventilation and heat rejection (condensers) to avoid unnecessary overheating.

4. Lighting & auxiliary loads in the cold chain

Although the main focus is refrigeration, lighting and auxiliary loads play an important role in both comfort and energy demand.

• Review of lighting in and around cabinet lines (LED quality, switching schedules, unnecessary night lighting).
• Identification of fans, pumps and other auxiliary loads that run continuously or with outdated controls.
• Basic optimisation of control strategies to reduce peak loads during hot days and tariff peaks.

5. ΔE* monitoring, reporting and rollout roadmap

The core of the Green AC&DC Energy™ methodology is that every pilot is documented in a way that is understandable for management, ESCO partners and financing institutions.

• ΔE* baseline: consolidation of invoices, where possible sub-metering, operating hours and local climate data into a clear “before” picture.
• ΔE* after: measured energy use and performance of the new configuration (cabinets, Micro-Door, cold rooms, auxiliary loads).
• Store-level summary: kWh/year, €/year and CO₂ reduction for each model store, with key technical notes.
• Chain-wide roadmap: phased proposal for replication in other stores – which measures to prioritise and how to connect them with ESCO contracts or own CAPEX.

6. Example: two model stores – medium-size supermarkets

The numbers below are an illustrative example of what a pilot can look like in practice. Real values will depend on tariffs, climate and the existing equipment in your chain.

• Stores: 2 model supermarkets (≈ 1,800 m² and 2,200 m² sales area).
• Cold equipment: ~110 vertical cabinets, 16 island freezers, 6 walk-in cold rooms.
• Baseline electricity for cold chain: ≈ 900,000 kWh/year combined.
• Indicative ΔE* reduction: ≈ 22–28 % on the cold chain cluster.
• Indicative savings: ≈ 200,000–250,000 kWh/year and corresponding CO₂ reduction, depending on the country mix.
• Indicative financial effect: several tens of thousands of € per year at typical EU retail tariffs, before considering maintenance and reliability benefits.

The example is intentionally conservative and does not assume extreme or unrealistic savings. The real pilot for your chain can be fine-tuned after we see your actual store formats, tariffs and equipment.