Whole Foods Market partners in energy-saving program

San Francisco -- Whole Foods Market partnering with EnergySmart Jobs and PECI on high-efficiency refrigeration retrofits. EnergySmart Jobs works with supermarkets and other commercial retail businesses throughout California to lower their operating costs by reducing the amount of energy they use.



“Whole Foods Market has been fortunate to work with PECI for several years in our Northern California region, and significant energy efficiency improvements have been made, resulting in substantial cost savings as well,” said Kathy Loftus, global leader of sustainable engineering at Whole Foods. “When the opportunity to participate in the EnergySmart Jobs program came up, we enthusiastically agreed, as it not only helps grow the local economy, but also helps us prove the benefits of these improvements across our company and the industry.”



Whole Foods and Energy Jobs are partnering in two Northern California stores to quantify the actual amount of energy that each individual store is saving. The two stores are part of six Whole Foods stores participating in the EnergySmart Jobs Program and each of them will be installing new energy management systems (EMS), programmed to float head and suction pressure to improve the refrigeration system efficiency. Rebates from EnergySmart Jobs cover a portion of the upfront investment costs. Together with applicable utility incentives, these rebates make it easy and affordable for grocers like Whole Foods to adopt new energy-efficient technologies.



Data loggers installed at several of these Whole Foods locations will monitor the amount of energy used by the refrigeration system condenser and compressor fans, offering a clear before-and-after picture. The information collected from this study will enable PECI and EnergySmart Jobs to provide more accurate and detailed energy-use estimates for future projects.



For more information on the EnergySmart Jobs Program, please visit energysmartjobs.org.