ACTION choses Daikin for its store climate control - DEU18-027

ACTION partners with Daikin for its store climate control and ventilation across Europe

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Action is a fast-growing non-food retail discounter, with over 1,200 stores across the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and Poland.

Action’s brand presents as a bright, spacious and welcoming environment for shoppers, offering a broad and surprising product range at the lowest prices.

Proud of its ethos, the company‘s store at Cloppenburg in Germany showcases the minimalist design and environmental ethics which lie at the heart of its consumer appeal. This is complemented by a comfortable in-store climate that creates the perfect ambience.

The Group’s lean approach demands simplicity and functionality across every aspect to facilitate its rapid and ambitious expansion programme.

As a discount retailer, cost has been a major factor in the choice of HVAC systems for Action, who sought an HVAC supplier that could also give HVAC design and support and offer local coordination in each expansion country.

Michiel Coolen, Group Construction Manager at Action says:

“Action is a discount retail company with a very ambitious expansion programme. Within this programme, there is a strong focus on managing our project costs in order to control the overall investments. Price is a very important criterion and, as part of a European tender, Daikin was able to distinguish itself.”

The strength of Daikin’s technical expertise and their pan-European presence were also important factors in their choice as partners, as Michiel Coolen explains:

 “Daikin offered more than an HVAC supplier, acting as a partner in supporting the design of our HVAC concept to achieve more efficiency, while providing the local presence technically to support our individual country teams.”

On the shop floor, Daikin’s ceiling-mounted Roundflow cassettes provide a low profile, visually unobtrusive air conditioning solution which ensures efficient air circulation and maintains a comfortable temperature all year round.

The Roundflow cassette's unique cleaning option provides regular automatic filter cleaning, cutting running and service costs significantly and improving comfort by supplying clean air.

Wall-mounted indoor units linked with outdoor units on the roof provide climate control in back-office areas and the canteen. Responsive smart controls enable precision control of temperatures to meet different requirements within the building. Adding further to the comfort of shoppers is the overdoor air curtain that keeps a comfortable indoor climate when doors open.

The Modular L ventilation unit, acclaimed by Team IM Duurzaam as being "acoustically very quiet, with simple plug and play technology", provides fresh air for the store, recovering energy from the outgoing air to maximize efficiency.

Team IM Duurzaam has been working in partnership with Daikin for eight months. With 20 stores installed to date and a further 30 in total scheduled this year, its fast-tracking of new stores, central to Action’s growth plans, requires an intuitive HVAC partner, as General Manager Stefan Pitlo explains:

“Timely delivery is essential. Collaboration is crucial during implementation, with installation of the HVAC technologies taking just one week per store. The clear assembly instructions make installation fast and easy.”

The Cloppenburg store manager points to the benefits of the climate control system:

“The operation of the HVAC system is intuitive, with simple symbols, which make it easy to use. The room climate feels very comfortable, with reliable heating in the winter, and the cooling made a real difference in the recent hot weather.”

Action is very positive about its continuing partnership with Daikin. Michiel Coolen, Group Construction Manager ACTION sums up the experience:

“Together with Daikin’s technical team we have optimised the design of our HVAC system, reducing investment levels and operational costs. Daikin has offered us access to the most up to date technology.

He concludes: “Based on the positive results, Action has decided to extend its collaboration with Daikin.”

Every year in May we will provide an update of this text.