[Infographic] 6 Benefits of a CO2/NH3 Cascade System

CO2/NH3 cascade systems offer food processors a practical way to increase efficiency. By using two centralized refrigeration systems working in unison to provide cooling temperatures, they maximize the effect of carbon dioxide and ammonia. The high-temperature system pulls heat away from the low-temperature system, which in turn uses recirculated liquid to cool the evaporators.

Cascade systems that use CO2 as a secondary refrigerant offer unique advantages. Carbon dioxide is nontoxic and nonflammable, and is also less likely to damage food products in the event of a release. For food plant owners, CO2/NH3 cascade systems offer six key benefits, which are detailed below.

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What Coffee Producers Can Learn From Starbucks’ Award-winning Coffee Plant

As today’s home-brewing coffee drinkers continue to seek convenient alternatives to coffee shops, the demand for delicious instant coffee has risen. However, it’s not always easy for processors to produce high-quality instant coffee, as there are many moving parts that must come together to put a tasty cup of joe on the kitchen table.

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Eco-friendly Packaging in the Food and Beverage Industry: Types & Benefits

Food for Thought is celebrating its two-year anniversary this month, and one of our very first blog posts is one of the most popular to-date. In April of 2013, I wrote a piece titled “Food Companies Go Green With Eco-Friendly Packaging,” discussing its different types and benefits. Eco-friendly packaging is something that’s only gained more steam as time has passed.

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How CALGreen is Impacting Design and Construction Practices

To incorporate sustainability into building construction and design, California established the California Green Building Standards Code—known as CALGreen for short. As the first statewide green building code in the United States, this code’s voluntary and mandatory measures aim to reduce environmental impact during and after construction while increasing buildings’ efficiency in materials and energy usage. As a food manufacturing and/or storage facility owner, you should understand that CALGreen is changing the way the building industry does business.

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Five Steps in Energy Modeling to Make Your Building More Efficient

This week, we welcome guest bloggers Thulasi Narayan and Andrew Lee from Paladino and Company. Paladino is an industry leading green building and sustainability consulting firm with a team of architects, engineers, building scientists, commissioning agents and business analysts who advise companies on energy efficiency. Stellar often partners with Paladino to estimate energy performance, help develop energy reduction strategies and track estimated performance against the project’s energy goal during the design process.

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A Conversation With Powerit Solutions® About Energy Management Technology

I recently sat down with Jack Perkins, Director of Channel Development for Powerit Solutions®, to discuss ways the food and beverage industry can benefit from energy management technology. Stellar often partners with energy experts such as Powerit Solutions to provide clients with a full range of tools to increase energy efficiency.

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Top Five Implications of California’s New Energy Standards

Energy consumption is a global issue and California is leading the charge in enacting legislation to reduce our carbon footprint. The state recently revised the energy standards known as Title 24, part 6 of the California Code of Regulations, which will more than likely affect other states in the future. The goal of Title 24 is to reduce energy use and make commercial and industrial buildings more efficient than required by the 2010 Title 24 standards.

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Green Globes ® Gains Traction as Alternative to LEED ®

For many companies, obtaining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is often too costly, and the documentation process too cumbersome, to warrant the effort. While not as well recognized, Green Globes is gaining traction as a less-expensive and more user-friendly alternative to LEED certification. Established in the U.S. in 2004, Green Globes is administered by the Green Building Initiative (GBI).

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