The Greater Boston Food Bank is starting the year off with a 75 percent reduction in energy use during peak hours and substantial cost savings thanks to a partnership with Eversource and the installation of a new Viking Cold Solutions thermal energy storage (TES) system. The TES system for the Food Bank's refrigeration units was installed at its 117,000 square-foot, high-efficiency Yawkey Distribution Center in South Boston.

"Thermal energy storage systems serve as a storage medium for a building's refrigeration system and is a cost-effective solution to store and dispatch the large amount of energy required by refrigeration equipment in cold storage facilities," said Eversource Vice President of Energy Efficiency Tilak Subrahmanian. "We recently launched a program designed to install new technologies, like thermal energy storage, to lower energy use and demand during peak energy usage hours. Our partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank will help them better manage their energy and deliver a cutting-edge solution that will benefit the organization overall and support its critical mission."

The new TES system, developed by Viking Cold Solutions, has reduced electrical consumption at the Greater Boston Food Bank's energy-intensive, cold storage facility while improving temperature stability inside their freezer. Cold storage facilities, such as frozen food warehouses and grocery store walk-in freezers, have the highest energy demand per cubic foot of any category. During peak energy use periods, they can account for up to 70 percent of the total electric bill for commercial and industrial organizations. 

"As the largest hunger relief organization in New England, our goal is to provide healthy meals to those in need across Eastern Massachusetts," said Cheryl Schondek, SVP of Supply Chain and Food Acquisition at The Greater Boston Food Bank. "We strive for cost saving operational efficiencies, and our partnership with Eversource and the installation of the Viking Cold TES system better enables us to achieve this goal.  We appreciate their commitment to our mission to end hunger here."

The energy cost savings delivered by the TES system will allow the Food Bank to provide an additional 10,500 meals per year.

Since 2015, Eversource has worked with the Greater Boston Food Bank on several lighting upgrades that have saved the nonprofit approximately $42,000 annually. They are currently working together on more energy efficiency projects, which include refrigeration, lighting and HVAC upgrades.

Greater Boston Food Bank | www.gbfb.org

Eversource | www.eversource.com

Viking Cold Solutions | www.vikingcold.com