Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
"Our ambition is to reduce our CO2-emissions per euro of sales by no less than 50% compared to 2010," says Erik-Jan Termaten, Project Manager Energy at Sligro Food Group Nederland B.V. "Limiting our electricity and gas consumption plays a crucial role in this. Both in our existing and new locations, we pay explicit attention to this."
As an example, Termaten cites the 25,280-square-meter new building in Deventer, which was designed and built according to the BREEAM-NL 'Outstanding' certification criteria. "The new building functions all-electric and is equipped with solar panels and dynamic LED lighting. Wherever possible, sustainable building materials and high-quality insulation have been used, ensuring that no energy is lost. Part of the offices and dry grocery storage areas, the battery loading area and the packaging area are heated by underfloor heating and heaters, making full use of waste heat from the refrigeration plant. The refrigeration plant operates 100% on natural refrigerants. In addition, we use the efficient freezer cell shields from Masterveil Europe, with whom we have a very sustainable partnership."
Sligro Food Group Nederland B.V. and Masterveil Europe have been partners for more than 20 years when it comes to the efficient and energetic separation of conditioned spaces, Peter Deweerdt, Managing Director of Masterveil Europe, also emphasizes. "Sligro has always supported and motivated us to keep developing our organization and products. This has led, for example, to us now rolling out our freezer-cell barriers in other European countries, with our own branches and an extensive network of Masterveil certified partners. As icing on the cake, we are now even represented in the US."
"Especially in freezer cells, optimal separation is crucial," says Deweerdt. "Not only to ensure optimal temperature separation, but above all to overcome the introduction of moisture and problems such as snow, fog and ice formation. After all, this can lead to significant energy and efficiency losses, high cleaning costs and even product or injury damage. With this in mind, and in close cooperation with Sligro and the University of Ghent, we made a detailed inventory of the conditions and processes in and around freezer cells. This led to the development of unique, slender, flexible and fully controllable Airstop and Powerstream setups, which allow different temperature zones to be separated even more efficiently. The various product combinations were of course also applied in Sligro's new distribution center in Deventer, where we had to deal with two types of separations: between the refrigerated (4°C) and non-refrigerated areas (20°C) and between the refrigerated areas and freezer cells (-24°C)."
Thanks to a special and proven high-pressure nozzle technology, Masterveil's AIRSTOP air curtain provides a permanent and metered air flow, which separates the various climate zones like an invisible door. "Powerstream takes this principle to an even higher level by integrating an additional layer of air into the basic version," said Deweerdt. "This further increases the efficiency of the basic system." Powerstream was developed specifically for freezer cells. Instead of a horizontal or vertical air layer, the system uses special modules that blow out from left to right and right to left. Where the lower module in combination with the insulating air layer controls the freezer cell, in the middle the load is kept neutral. The upper module also provides a directed "separating" jet, in combination with an insulating air layer and with a view to maximum shielding of moisture and heat. "Thanks to the new technology, the main jet no longer needs to be conditioned. Moreover, the modules collectively create lower air velocities, which not only makes it more pleasant to walk through the invisible separation, but also minimizes energy consumption."
The Airstop and Powerstream solution can be powered from a single fan. Moreover, it is possible to link various functionalities to the system. At Sligro in Deventer, for example, active drying was chosen, which protects against even higher moisture loads. "Soon we will also introduce a 2.0 version of Powerstream, based on glycol and including heat recovery," says Deweerdt. "This will allow users to save even more energy."
In addition to the distribution center in Deventer, Masterveil recently designed, produced and delivered the air curtains for the Sligro distribution centers in Maastricht, Breda, Vianen and Antwerp, which were built and furnished in a similar way.
