July 2019 – The industrial cooling industry faces a dilemma as the ambient temperature outside a building increases. To compensate for this rise in the outside temperature, energy consumption has to increase to keep the indoor environment comfortable. Unfortunately, air conditioners, refrigeration systems, HVAC chillers and anything else that we use to keep buildings cool can have a significant negative impact on our outside environment.
The challenge facing the industrial cooling industry is how do to reduce energy consumption and, at the same time, make our indoor environment as comfortable as possible. There are a number of technologies and practices that we can employ to address this problem.
In an interesting article by Process Cooling, some of these solutions include using new refrigerants with a lower impact rating on the environment, using natural refrigerants like carbon dioxide and ammonia, smaller and more energy efficient cooling systems and low maintenance systems. It also outlines how the construction industry (including building and facility managers) can be more proactive by improving building insulation, door and loading area seals and even by replacing older light systems with with LED lighting systems.