Kitchen Equipment

When it comes to saving energy in restaurants, the best place to start is in the back of the house. After all, that’s where foodservice establishments spend most of their energy dollars.

Food preparation alone accounts for about 35 percent of a restaurant’s energy consumption. But investing in energy-efficient appliances can help bring down utility bills and conserve resources.

When adding or replacing any kitchen equipment, it’s important to look for products marked with the ENERGY STAR logo, a sign that they meet or exceed the federal government’s standard for energy efficiency. ENERGY STAR has certified a number of appliances present in quick-service kitchens, including fryers, commercial dishwashers, ice machines, and hot-food holding cabinets. A complete list can be found at www.energystar.gov.

And there are still other things that can be done to reduce refrigeration costs. Installing strip curtains on walk-in refrigerators and freezers, for instance, can reduce energy consumption by four times when loading inventory. Ventilation is another back-of-the-house action that tends to gobble energy. Upgrading to high-efficiency HVAC units with programmable thermostats and choosing UL-listed kitchen exhaust hoods are suggestions that can cut HVAC energy usage.

Lighting

About 13 percent of a typical restaurant’s energy dollars are spent on lighting, but it doesn’t have to be that way. For starters, ditch those incandescent bulbs, which are inefficient, losing as much as 90 percent of the energy used to power them as heat. Replace them with compact fluorescent light bulbs.

For linear fluorescent tube lighting, replace T12 bulbs with more efficient T8 or T5 varieties. The “T” designation refers to the diameter of the tubing. The smaller the diameter. the easier to focus light where needed, making it more efficient.

Another emerging technology is light-emitting diode (led) lighting. LED lights can be used for exit signs, external signage, and menuboards. LED lights use solid-state chips rather than a filament and glass bulb. As a result, they last longer and lose much less energy to heat.

ENERGY STAR Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs Utility Savings: $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb’s lifetime Energy Savings: Use 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs

ENERGY STAR Exit Signs Utility Savings: $10 annually on electricity costs per sign Energy Savings: Require up to 35 fewer watts to operate than standard exit signs

LED Lights Utility Savings: More than $10 per year in energy costs over incandescent lights Energy Savings: Up to 90 percent more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs

Windows

If your restaurant isn’t fitted with energy-efficient windows, the money you spend on heating and cooling could be going, well, right out the window.

Panes filled with odorless, colorless, nontoxic gases insulate better, and improved frame materials made from wood composites and fiberglass reduce heat transfer. Warm edge spacers help by maintaining the proper distance between panes, reducing heat flow and preventing condensation.

To keep heat inside in the winter and outside during warmer months, choose a low-E glass, which has a special infrared-reflecting coating. Blinds, awnings, and window films can also keep out unwanted heat, as can strategic landscaping. Some light, however, can be a good thing, a natural and inexpensive way to light a room. Situating windows on the south-facing side of the building and utilizing skylights can reduce energy bills.

Restrooms

The restroom is sometimes referred to as the necessary room, but in quick-service restaurants it has a tendency to generate a lot of unnecessary spending.

One way to conserve water is to install a gray water usage system that uses collected rainwater or water already used in sinks to flush toilets. New toilets are also being designed with water conservation in mind. For the men’s room, consider a waterless urinal. Dual-flush toilets are another option.

While installing gray water systems and new toilets can involve a significant investment, installing aerators on sinks is a simple and inexpensive way to cut water usage. The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) suggests using motion sensors on toilets and sinks.

Hand dryers are a great way to eliminate waste from paper towels. Replace older models with newer, more efficient high-pressure air dryers.

Waterless Urinals Utility savings: Up to $3,000 per year on water per urinal Environmental Savings: Saves up to 40,000 gallons of water per urinal

High-Speed/Energy-Efficient Dryers Utility Savings: Up to 95 percent cost savings vs. paper towel Environmental Savings: Eliminates waste from paper towels, can use up to 80 percent less energy than other dryers

Aerator Utility savings: Up to $200 per year Environmental Savings: Can save up to 2.5 gallons of water per minute