CCE launches initiative for Commercial Ice-Makers

The CEE (Consortium for Energy Efficiency) launched an initiative for commercial ice-makers in December of 2002. This initiative seeks to maximize the energy savings opportunity available through increased and sustained market share of efficient commercial ice-making equipment. In 2006, the CEE ice-maker specifications were incorporated into the Commercial Kitchens Initiative due to their direct relevance to this market.

About This Market: Hospitals account for 39.4 percent of all commercial ice-maker purchases, followed by hotels (22.3 percent), restaurants (13.8 percent), retail outlets (8.5 percent), schools (8.5 percent), offices (4.3 percent) and grocery stores (3.2 percent). Commercial ice-makers represent approximately 11 percent of all commercial refrigeration energy use. Nationally, an estimated 1.2 million automatic commercial ice-makers are in service, consuming an estimated 9.4 billion kWh annually. Estimated sales of ice-makers in 1993 were 187,579 units. Approximately 64 percent of these were self-contained cube making units; the rest were ice-making heads and remote condensing units. The major market barriers limiting the market share of energy-efficient commercial ice-makers are end-user awareness of significant differences in life-cycle costs and end-user focus on design attributes. Some manufacturers are already differentiating their models as “efficient” and educating
their customers on the importance of energy efficiency. The focus of this initiative is to support this message and overcome these market barriers.

How CEE’s Commercial Ice-Maker Initiative Works

The long-term objectives of this initiative are to increase:

• End-user understanding and valuation of the benefits of energy-efficient commercial icemaking equipment

• Retailer/distributor promotion and marketing of energy-efficient commercial ice-makers

• Manufacturer production and promotion of energy-efficient commercial ice-making products CEE’s strategies to accomplish these objectives include:

• Encouraging the adoption and promotion of a common specification for commercial icemakers

• Development of effective program approaches to increase market share of high-efficiency commercial ice-makers

Expected Energy Savings: The average annual energy use of a 500 lb./day air-cooled ice-maker is 5,000 kWh with a potential increase in efficiency of 15 percent (less than a two-year payback).

For equipment specifications, see the CEE Web site: www.cee1.org/com/com-ki /ice-specs.pdf

Contact: Additional information about CEE’s Commercial Ice-Makers Initiative is available at www.cee1.org or by contacting Afroz Khan at 617-589-3949, ext. 208, or akhan@cee1.org.

©2007 Consortium for Energy Efficiency. All rights reserved.