Supermarket chain uses Honeywell’s ready-now, energy efficient and environmentally-preferable refrigerant solution to support sustainability efforts
Honeywell today announced that Organic Foods and Café, a grocery retailer based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), adopted Solstice® N40 (R-448A) refrigerant to retrofit one of its Dubai store locations currently using R-22. Organic Foods and Café plans to continue retrofitting stores throughout the UAE with Solstice N40 to prioritize sustainability and support their business’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
Based on hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) technology, Solstice N40 has become the supermarket industry’s most widely adopted, lower-global-warming-potential (LGWP), nonflammable refrigerant replacement for legacy hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants such as R-22 and other hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) alternatives.
Since its release in 2015, there have been more than 60,000 installations of Solstice N40 globally, supporting compliance with current and proposed regulations, including the internationally adopted Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, with the aim of reducing the use of ozone-depleting HCFCs and high-GWP HFCs. Solstice N40 is easy to implement, requiring minimal changes to existing systems, offers a GWP that is approximately 68 percent lower than legacy HFC refrigerants, and allows for up to 15 percent lower energy consumption, reducing carbon emissions.
“Solstice N40 is the practical and economical choice to support sustainable operations while reducing energy costs,” said Nils El Accad, CEO, of Organic Foods and Café. “This environmentally-preferable solution coupled with technical support from Honeywell’s team allowed us to easily retrofit our Dubai store location while complying with existing and proposed requirements of the Middle East market, benefiting the environment and economy.”
“Solstice N40 is already a leading choice for supermarkets worldwide and its growing adoption in the region is a sign of growing awareness and action against global warming as customers move away from legacy refrigerants such as R-22,” said George Bou Mitri, vice president and general manager of Performance Materials and Technologies for the Middle East at Honeywell. “Switching to this ready-now, environmentally-preferable, longer-term solution will not only contribute to the sustainable practices of Organic Foods and Café, but will also help to accelerate the industry’s conversion to alternatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Based in Dubai and founded in 2004, Organic Foods and Café is a family-operated company with organic supermarkets and cafés that sell fresh, organic and biodynamic foods, groceries, supplements, meat, dairy products, bread and household cleaning products.
Honeywell is a world leader in the development, manufacture and supply of refrigerants that are sold worldwide under the Solstice® and Genetron® brand names. They are used for a wide range of applications including refrigeration and air conditioning for buildings and automobiles, heating and cooling by heat pumps and chillers in heat networks, industry and buildings.
Honeywell and its suppliers have completed a billion-dollar investment program in research, development, and new capacity for Honeywell’s hydrofluoroolefin technology. Worldwide adoption of Solstice products has avoided the potential release of more than 260 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equal to eliminating the potential emissions from more than 56 million cars for one year.
Honeywell is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in its operations and facilities by 2035 and recently announced a new set of commitments that further advance its sustainability goals, including a science-based target with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) that includes scope 3 emissions and participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Climate Challenge. The company also supports the Paris Climate Agreement. These efforts build on the company’s track record of sharply reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of its operations and facilities as well as its decades-long history of innovation to help its customers meet their environmental and social goals. About half of Honeywell’s new product introduction research and development investment is directed toward products that improve environmental and social outcomes for customers.
