by Brianna Crandall — January 7, 2015—The Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM) has issued a new white paper to help retail facilities management professionals justify the replacement of older heating/ventilation/air-conditioning (HVAC) rooftop units with newer, high-efficiency technology released into the commercial market over the past few years.
In Replacing and Retrofitting Rooftop Units through the Advanced RTU Campaign (available to members only; PRSM will e-mail the white paper to non-members), authors Marta Milan of Waypoint Building group, Michael Deru of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Grant Gable of AES Reclaim explain how the Advanced RTU Campaign (ARC) is benefitting the retail industry with multi-faceted cost savings, including reductions in energy consumption.
“This white paper documents how retail industry leaders, including manufacturers, associations and the U.S. Department of Energy have united around a set of common goals we typically label ‘sustainability,’ but the benefits we see here go way beyond lowering a retailer’s carbon footprint. Multi-site retailers and the supplier community, through the ARC program, are finding more ways to lower costs and work more efficiently. That is the hallmark of the professional retail facilities manager,” said Patricia Dameron, executive director, PRSM Association.
PRSM Member companies Walgreens and adidas organized with ARC separate HVAC replacement programs. In documented case studies, the two companies reported savings and goals for future cost reductions, highlighted below.
Walgreens RTU replacement program results
In 2010, U.S. drug retailing chain Walgreens developed a portfolio-wide planned RTU replacement program that resulted in significant energy and cost savings. During a three-year window of implementation, “Walgreens saved more than $1 million across 150 stores,” experiencing reductions in material and labor costs.
adidas RTU replacement program results
In 2012, German multinational sports apparel and equipment company adidas implemented a proactive RTU replacement program to replace aging equipment near the end of its useful life, and in the process the company worked to standardize to a single brand of equipment. “By standardizing the RTUs for most replacements, adidas has been able to streamline acquisitions…and the new high-efficiency RTUs have helped reduce energy and maintenance costs,” according to the case study. adidas also reported: “Electricity consumption is estimated to be 20 percent to 40 percent lower than new standard-efficiency RTUs, depending on the location.”
For more information on how the retail industry is benefiting from the Advanced RTU Campaign, visit the campaign site. Case Studies and Guidance, including the Walgreens (coming soon) and adidas case studies and additional resources provided by PRSM, are available for download under the Technical Assistance tab.
