True Refrigeration continues to lead the way for energy efficiency and sustainability.

Each year in Australia, commercial refrigeration equipment uses roughly the same amount of electricity as the combined total of ALL household lighting and refrigeration. It’s a significant number that accounts for approximately 4% of Australia’s entire annual energy sector emissions, not to mention a major operational expense for business owners.

Unsurprisingly, shrewd hospitality-based businesses are increasingly seeking ways to lower their energy usage, reduce their carbon footprint and meet sustainability targets. As an original Energy Star® Partner for Commercial Refrigeration, True Refrigeration is proud to be playing a central part in helping them do it, through a series of globally-recognised energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives.

Cleaner Refrigeration

True has long been committed to the development of cleaner commercial refrigeration technologies that replace harmful substances with more eco-friendly alternatives, without impacting the overall quality or performance of our products. One of the most significant is the use of hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerant.

Hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants are natural, nontoxic refrigerants that have no ozone depleting properties, especially when compared to older hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants which have extremely high Global Warming Potential (GWP). Beyond being one of the most climate-friendly refrigerants, they’re also one of the most cost-effective.

Whilst still relatively new technology in Australia, HC adoption began in Europe over 20 years ago and, today, more than 4 million commercial HC units are already in use. There’s no doubt it’s the future of commercial refrigeration, and we’re proud to be part of it.

More Efficient Refrigeration

Energy efficiency has always been a major R&D focus for True Refrigeration. A great example is our Reverse Condensing Fan Motor (RCU), which is now standard on all True HC models. RCU reverses during defrost off cycles to help keep the all-important condenser coils free from dirt, dust and debris. This optimises cooling performance, providing colder holding temperatures and increased energy efficiency for the life of the unit.

More Efficient Production

Beyond enhancing the performance of True products, we’re also searching out more environmentally friendly ways to produce them. In particular, we’re constantly making improvements to the energy efficiency and sustainability of our production processes to reduce our carbon footprint. Examples of this include:

• Conserving water through closed-loop water systems and rainwater harvesting
• Using powder coatings to reduce the use of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
• Printing with UV inks to eliminate solvents
• Using a CFC-free foam insulation with 0% GWP and 0% Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP)
• Significantly reducing the use of high GWP gases through the adoption of propane
• Adoption of extensive material recycling across our supply chain
• 100% RoHS compliance (‘Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances’).

Initiatives like these have led to tremendously positive changes within the True Refrigeration business in recent decades. Since 2000, we’ve been able to:

• Decrease the GWP of our products by more than 99%
• Reduce our Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reported chemical releases by 99.9%
• Reduce the release of CO2 by over 500,000 metric tonnes – the equivalent of removing 106,157 cars off the road each year
• Eliminate 99% of the hazardous substances used such as lead, mercury and cadmium
• Reduce natural gas consumption by 40%
• Recycle 100% of the scrap metal created by our production processes
• Introduce a new HC refrigerant, R290, which further reduces the environmental impact of our products.

True Refrigeration’s market-leading commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability is ongoing. To learn more, please click here.