End-use energy efficiency is recognized as a predominant contributor to achieve UK carbon reduction target that is still far from reach today. The
opportunity in retail buildings is apparent, especially supermarkets that account for 4 MtCO2e of total UK carbon footprint. This paper outlines
an enhanced re-commissioning (Re-Cx) framework that aims to mitigate supermarkets with poor energy performance, known as “cold-stores”. The
framework delivers a holistic approach with four critical strategies – Identification, Monitoring, Rectification and Prevention in sustaining
supermarket thermal efficiency throughout its operational lifecycle. This includes a comprehensive store characterization to identify “cold-store”, key
performance indicators (KPIs) proposal for supermarket thermal efficiency monitoring, a cost-effective fault indication flowchart development for
“cold-store” rectification, and the introduction of a novel Re-Cx and maintenance integration approach to prevent “cold-store” in a sustainable
manner. A case study is carried out on 350 stores from one of the biggest UK supermarket chains. Seven “cold-stores” are identified from the
comprehensive store benchmarking and characterization analysis. These results are also validated through the proposed KPIs. Moreover, a
comparison between EnergyStar Re-Cx strategies and the supermarket maintenance procedures found 80% of the Re-Cx measures could be
integrated into the maintenance activities. This ascertains the feasibility of the suggested integration approach. In a nutshell, this framework brings
a new perception to retail Re-Cx regime, which can be implemented to effectively identify, monitor, rectify and prevent “cold-stores”.