The increased focus on environmental issues such as carbon emissions, energy consumption and the Governments on-going commitment to tackling climate change has introduced many changes to the retail industry.

The fine balance of creating a comfortable working and shopping experience, and reducing a stores carbon footprint, therefore decreasing energy consumption and costs, is now the priority for all retailers.

As part of the Climate Change Levy Programme, the UK needs to considerably reduce carbon emissions. The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, (Carbon Reduction Commitment), is the UK's most recent, mandatory climate change and energy saving scheme. Central to the UK's strategy for improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide, (CO2), emissions, the scheme has been designed to raise awareness in large organisations and encourage changes in behaviour and infrastructure.

The CRC scheme is compulsory for organisations that have at least one half-hourly meter, (HHM), settled on the half-hourly market. Organisations that consumed more than 6,000 megawatt-hours, (MWh), per year of half hourly-metered electricity during 2008 qualify for full participation. Incredibly the publicity for the CRC scheme has been low, despite it affecting many high street chains. Whilst retail chains and department stores will be fully aware and compliant with the CRC Scheme, smaller operations do not have the luxury of employing a staff member to focus on energy consumption alone. However, all qualifying organisations must comply legally with the scheme or face financial penalties.

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Cold Control, the award winning refrigeration and air-conditioning specialists prioritise energy consumption as key throughout the process of specifying, designing and installing air-conditioning equipment to the retail sector. Working closely with leading industry experts such as Mitsubishi Electrics, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry and Daikin, Cold Control only supply the most energy efficient equipment available on the market.

Cold Control highlight the importance of cutting energy consumption to all of their clients, and use their knowledge and extensive expertise to assist them with solutions to the complex difficulties that can arise from making important changes to cooling systems.

Comprehensive staff training is crucial to ensure the correct use of air conditioning, control panels should be set at a consistent temperature and not changed regularly as this keeps the equipment running efficiently, therefore, cutting costs and carbon emissions. Furthermore, regular servicing and maintenance of equipment can reduce operation costs by 30 percent and have a significant impact on energy consumption. Finally, the most important step towards energy efficient heating and cooling systems in retail stores is ensuring the most environmentally friendly systems are in place. Inverter control air conditioning is considerably cheaper to operate, saving a further 30 percent in running costs.

Cold Control guided and supported a leading high street bakery outlet to significantly reduce their carbon emissions and energy consumption. The bakery undertook a complete re-fit throughout their stores nationwide, replacing their conventional central ducted systems with split dial inverter control air-conditioning units, which operate on the energy efficient R410A gas. Furthermore, Cold Control installed the control panels for the bakery behind locked glass cases. These are set consistently at 22 degrees and can only be accessed by managers, ensuring that the systems are operated efficiently. One major electrical store and two leading sports chains have also recently invested in Cold Controls expertise, making significant reductions in energy consumption.

Mark Grant, Managing Director of Cold Control commented: "Reductions in energy consumption must be made wherever possible and air conditioning is a practical place to begin. Cold Control can provide the solutions to any retail store, and follow them up with comprehensive service and maintenance programs to ensure equipment is operated correctly, runs efficiently and is therefore compliant with all industry regulations."

For more information on Cold Control’s air conditioning and refrigeration installation expertise, or their comprehensive service and maintenance package Tel: 0844 9670573 or Visit: www.coldcontrol.co.uk