By: Alejandra García Vélez
The company BGH carried out the installation of several Lennox products in warehouses of the Carrefour chain in Argentina to reduce the costs of maintenance and consumption of electricity and gas.
According to the website of the hypermarket chain "Carrefour was founded in France in 1959 by the Fournier and Defforey families. In 1960 the first Carrefour supermarket opened its doors in the town of Annecy, in the border department of Haute Savoie bordering Switzerland. But it is only until 1963 when it is inaugurated at the intersection of 5 roads, on the outskirts of Paris, the first store of 2,500 m2 of sales floor, 12 cash registers and 400 parking stalls. "
Since then it has established itself as one of the largest and most important supermarket chains in the world, proof of this is its expansion to countries on almost all continents. In the case of Argentina, the chain arrived in this South American country in 1982, in that year the first Carrefour warehouse in that country was opened in the town of San Isidro, in Buenos Aires. From that date began the expansion of the chain with the opening of other warehouses; for example, in 1984 he opened the second hypermarket in the town of Vicente López, also in Buenos Aires, followed by the Carrefour San Lorenzo hypermarket in 1986 and Carrefour Vélez Sársfield in 1989; in 1992 two other warehouses were opened and in 1993 the Carrefour La Plata was added; in 1994 the first hypermarket in the interior of the country was born: Carrefour Córdoba.
In 2000 the company merged with the Argentine chain Norte to reach a presence of 26 hypermarkets and 140 supermarkets, in the cities of Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, La Plata, Mendoza and Córdoba, among others. Although some other warehouses have since opened, the figures above give an idea of the importance of this chain of hypermarkets.
It should be noted the size of the warehouses, which can reach up to 25,000 square meters, precisely there lies the importance of the installation carried out by BGH with Lennox products. "Three years ago, given the quality problems with other brands, we were able to be taken into account by Carrefour as a valid alternative, despite being more expensive than our competitors. Carrefour is a customer that evaluates and analyzes the efficiency of the equipment and therefore Lennox is very difficult to beat," said the project managers about the working relationship with the French company.
As a result of this working relationship, savings of thousands of dollars in maintenance have been achieved with a payback of equipment of about a year, said Diego Simondi, business manager of BGH.
In addition, he affirms that this relationship has been able to be maintained due to "mainly the confidence and tranquility provided by the representative (BGH) with permanent stock of equipment and spare parts and a joint work with Lennox of more than 14 years. In addition, Lennox was able to impose its quality in the Mercosur region where there are large equipment manufacturers at a lower price."
The main reasons that Carrefour hypermarkets had to request the services of BGH were the permanent increases in maintenance costs and electricity consumption, "they looked for the best option in the market in quality and energy savings, that is why they contacted BGH exclusive distributor of Lennox in Argentina and Chile," said Diego Simondi. The project basically covers the provision and installation of more than 2000 Tr for new openings of Carrefour stores in Argentina.
According to Simondi "the first thing that surprised everyone was the practicality of the Lennox packages, since once in position and the connections were made, the start-up of the systems was immediate and without inconvenience, something that is not so common in this type of transitions; the second improvement is that savings have already been observed in the maintenance of the equipment due to the ease in these to do it quickly and safely. Finally, what they are starting to obtain results is in terms of energy savings since in the first days of operation the measurements exceeded the customer's expectations".
This was achieved thanks to the CO2 censors used with rooftop L-Series systems. Which determine the amount of CO2 in the environment, inform the team when to open the outdoor air intake and with this a saving of approximately 20% of energy is achieved.
Teams
The solutions used were basically some Lennox roofing units of the L series and the T series. The L series is available in models from 3 to 30 tons, up to 13.5 SEER, comply with the ASHRAE 90.1 standard and are qualified as Energy Star equipment. They also feature a modular integrated controller, which provides centralized and fast control, a Humiditrol ® Dehumidification System that helps control humidity levels, improve comfort and indoor air quality. Multiple compressors allow the unit to provide efficient cooling with four cooling stages. Also thermostatic expansion valves and variable frequency units that give the unit a variable air volume.
The ease of installation is another of its points in favor, as it has an independent mount motor that allows easy access without removing the top panel, also a perimeter base of rails that provides greater integrity so the unit is easier to handle and transport. The compressor compartment is insulated so that the performance of the compressor can be checked under normal operating conditions without interrupting the air flow. In addition, the cabinets are resistant to corrosion.
On the other hand, the equipment of the T series is characterized by its durability, they are available in models from 2 to 25 tons, and up to 13.5 SEER and 11.4 IPLV. In addition to also complying with ASHRAE 90.1 regulations. The panels are large allowing quick access to the compressor, refrigerant components and electrical controls. Direct electronic ignition that eliminates permanent pilot and improves efficiency. In addition, thermostatic expansion valves provide maximum cooling performance across the entire range of applications.
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The distributor
BGH is about to turn a century, as it was born in 1913 as a furniture store, with the name of Boris Garfunkel and children. Since then it has not stopped expanding and covering different fields. For example, in the 50s he signed agreements with the Argentine company Gilera SRL for the distribution of motorcycles and with Stucchi, Atala and Pegasus in the field of bicycles. Although by the end of that decade the company marketed products such as kerosene and gas refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, sewing machines, heaters, extractors and fans, among other products. In the 60s it made agreements with Fedders Intl and Motorola Inc. with which it consolidated itself as an air conditioning manufacturer and also as an exclusive manufacturer of Motorola products in Argentina, a tradition that it retains until today.*
*Taken from http://www.bgh.com.ar
