On April 6 Texas-based Buc-ee’s opened its first travel center featuring CO₂ (R744) refrigeration in Huber Heights, Ohio, according to Scott Ray, the company’s Director of Design, Construction and Procurement.

Along with the clean bathrooms, cold drinks, brisket and snacks, the new 74,000ft² (6,870m²) store features 100 fueling positions and 24 EV charging stations. Ray, joined by Brett Crask, Grocery Practice Director at Henderson Engineers, outlined Buc-ee’s decision to transition to CO₂, the brand’s unique needs and potential refrigeration retrofits at ATMOsphere America Summit 2026.

The event, organized by ATMOsphere, publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, took place June 2‒3 in Tarrytown, New York.

“With the impending AIM Act, we knew that the R448A condensing units were not a long-term solution,” said Crask. “Working with Hillphoenix, we found that a standard air-cooled CO₂ booster rack carries about a 17% premium over our traditional R448A configuration, with an adiabatic cooler adding another 2%. However, the CO₂ system delivers approximately 12% annual energy savings compared to R448A, while heat reclaim also provides hot water.”

For redundancy, the Ohio store incorporates two Hillphoenix transcritical CO₂ Flex Mini units, each configured with two medium-temperature and two low-temperature compressors, according to Crask. While he did not disclose the site’s total cooling capacity, the original Flex Mini platform offers up to 102.6kW (29.2TR) of refrigeration capacity and can serve up to 35 cases per unit.

Unique situation: With 55 locations across 12 states, Buc-ee’s travel centers — typically located on interstates between small cities of around 15,000‒20,000 people — can draw more customers in a single weekend than Major League Baseball attracts over an entire season, according to Ray.

• He compared Buc-ee’s refrigeration requirements to those of a Publix Super Market store, noting similar loads despite different case types. With around-the-clock operation and a strict “no downtime” expectation, Buc-ee’s specifies 100% refrigeration redundancy.
• The company’s legacy setup included 22 R448A roof-mounted condensing units, with essentially one unit per case. “To maintain uptime, we are moving to racks,” Ray said, adding that Buc-ee’s consulted major grocery chains — Publix, Wegmans, Walmart and Target — about their CO₂ experiences before deciding to switch to the natural refrigerant.
• Finding qualified technicians presents another challenge, especially in remote locations. At the new Ohio CO₂ store, Buc-ee’s worked with Hillphoenix and Copeland to train the installer and the service contractor on the system and the controls.

Going forward: “We made the decision 18 months ago to use CO₂ racks as our refrigeration prototype for all new stores,” Ray said, adding that the chain plans to open six‒eight sites annually.

• Buc-ee’s next three planned openings this year are in Goodyear, Arizona; Benton, Arkansas; and San Marcos, Texas.
• The company’s fleet of stores uses a mishmash of condensers, evaporators and cases operating on refrigerants ranging from R404A to R448A, Crask explained, with individual pieces regularly replaced due to high operating intensity.
• He said that Henderson is working with Buc-ee’s on a long-term strategy to retrofit its original 54 stores and transition them to CO₂ racks.

Networking benefits: Following discussions at the ATMO conference, Ray said that he wants to evaluate integrating CO₂ refrigeration with the store’s HVAC system for dehumidification.

• With Buc-ee’s stores operating in the Deep South, including Mississippi and Texas, where ambient humidity runs around 80% and summer heat indices climb above 100°F (38°C), dehumidifying product cases presents a challenge, according to Ray.
• A day before the ATMO event, Hillphoenix, in partnership with Copeland and Flō Energy Solutions, hosted a tour of DeCicco & Son’s Sleepy Hollow store. The site integrates a CO₂ heat reclaim coil for dehumidification and space heating, while the air-conditioning system provides summer subcooling for the CO₂ rack.

Quotable: “We’re a private company whose owners want to invest in the business to uphold our brand standards,” Ray said. “We operate 24/7, and our philosophy is that if you walk in expecting a product, you get that product. We don’t waste money, but we don’t cut corners either.”