Fresh Thinking - Blog

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Our relationship with food is changing. Cooking shows, celebrity chefs, open kitchen designs. Instagram photos. Grocers bringing alternatives into the mainstream. The resurgence of the farmers market. The list goes on and on. For a mix of health, social, economic, and sustainability reasons, people are engaging more deeply  with food. They talk – and think – about what they eat, how they prepare it, and where they buy it. And food shopping is no longer a list-driven routine for replenishing the pantry. For more and more people, it’s an experience

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix The food store environment is complex, with the various building systems essentially working against each other to maintain optimal conditions. General illumination competes with lighting used to enhance merchandising. Refrigeration competes with maintaining comfortable aisle temperatures for customers. Seasonal and daily weather variables further complicate the mix, affecting loads on refrigeration and HVAC systems. When any one of a store’s systems isn’t operating optimally – at designed specifications – it affects the performance of the other systems and the overall store environment. It also significantly increases energy expenses. Migration away