The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given Howe Corporation, a Chicago-based manufacturer of CO2 flake ice machines, a 2023 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence award.
Howe has been an ENERGY STAR partner since 2012. This is the company’s second ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence award, which is the program’s highest honor.
To receive the award, partners must have received ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years.
As a Product Brand Owner that manufactures commercial ice-making equipment, Howe received the award for “continuing to invest in product innovations and sales channels that ensure energy-efficient ice makers with natural refrigerants are readily available on the market,” said the EPA.
Other 2022 accomplishments noted by the EPA included:
- Collaborating to develop test standards and energy-efficiency comparisons between rack-connected and self-contained ice machines.
- Promoting ENERGY STAR partnership and certified products.
- Providing training at all company levels concerning ENERGY STAR program benefits and partnership responsibilities.
Every year, the EPA honors companies that make “outstanding contributions” to protecting the environment through the ENERGY STAR program. This year, the EPA gave 221 awards in the following categories: Sustained Excellence, Partner of the Year, Contractor of the Year and Excellence.
“As we accelerate historic efforts to address climate change, public-private partnerships will be essential to realizing the scale of our ambition,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan in a statement. “I applaud this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.”
Launched in 1992, “ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped prevent over four billion [metric] tons of greenhouse gas emissions while saving consumers and businesses over US$500 billion [€453 billion],” the EPA said, adding that the label has become an international standard of energy efficiency.
Flake ice makers
Howe Corporation is a 111-year-old, fourth-generation family-owned and operated manufacturer of flake ice makers “that are used throughout the entire food chain,” said Howe in a statement. The company introduced its CO2 ice machines in 2009.
The company designs ice flakers to operate in secondary as well as subcritical and transcritical CO2 central refrigeration systems for use in retail supermarkets. The units are used for seafood and produce merchandising and spot displays, Howe says on its website, with daily ice production capabilities ranging from 1,000 to 6,000lbs (454 to 2,724kg).
In 2020, Howe installed a new CO2 (R744) recirculated ice system in a California supermarket, producing up to 1,000lbs (454kg) of flaked ice daily. Like a low-temperature display case, the ice machine is cooled by recirculated liquid CO2, with evaporator temperatures between -10 and -20°F (-23 and -29°C).
For larger operations, Howe also manufactures ammonia (R717)-based ice flakers with production capacities ranging from 2,000 to 20,000lbs (908 to 9080kg).
“I applaud this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.”
Michael S. Regan, EPA Administrator
