Master-Bilt Refrigeration News & Product Information


Partner In Success: Yale University

New Haven, CT

Managing a campus foodservice operation is no small task, especially when it’s world-renowned academic powerhouse Yale University. Yale Dining serves approximately 14,000 meals per day in 23 residential and retail dining locations.  With the university’s prestigious reputation comes a high standard for every area of operation, including foodservice.  The Yale Dining division’s mission is to serve students and guests fresh food that tastes great in a clean, safe, contemporary environment, purchased and prepared in a fiscally responsible and environmentally sustainable manner.

“We believe that sound nutrition is central to promoting a lifelong healthy relationship with food and are dedicated to providing excellent service to our customers,” Dan Flynn, Director of Planned Projects and Maintenance, said.

In the fall of 2013, the university began construction on a new state-of-the-art 16,000 square foot culinary support center which houses its campus bakery, catering department, central cold food production, training center and cook-chill operations.  The building uses twelve walk-ins for various operations and holds anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000 worth of inventory at any given time.

The original blueprint called for a standard refrigeration rack system using nine separate air-cooled compressors on the roof of the new facility.  “We were looking for two important features: energy efficiency and redundancy,” Flynn said.  “Redundancy for security reasons – if one compressor goes down, we need to be fully operational so the product is not compromised. Our other priority is leveraging technology to achieve maximum energy efficiency. We were looking for an intelligent design that would provide the most efficient use of resources and provide savings for the long term.”   During a meeting with Master-Bilt Rep Brian Henry, Flynn asked about the efficiency of the Master-Bilt parallel rack system.

“The beauty of this system is the compressors are all different sizes, and the computer understands the demand.  Master-Bilt’s parallel rack consolidates all nine of the compressors in this unit on a continuous loop with a one-point connection. While other racks are either 100 percent on or off, the parallel rack unit combines data from all nine compressors and calculates the most efficient level of energy to run at any given time to accomplish the desired cooling temperature. For example, in the night during low use hours only one compressor may run to maintain consistency. During peak use hours when the walk-in door is opened multiple times, all compressors may be running to maintain the desired temperature.”

In February 2014, Flynn began prepping for installation and by August, the parallel rack was installed on a concrete slab beside the facility and is now in use. “We’ve been very impressed with the energy savings the parallel rack offers,” Flynn said.