A Few Notes on Going Green

The National Restaurant Association recently published a news article to their website about how making your restaurant more energy efficient doesn’t mean spending a lot of money.

One restaurant owner cited in the article says that his restaurant chain has had the most success with lighting, water and trash. The restaurant owner has updated the lighting fixtures in his operations to models that use less electricity than their predecessors. They are also making a valiant effort to reduce water waste by using low-flow valves on faucets and waterless toilets. They also try to compost as much waste as they can.

The overall point of the article is that every little bit does help. While most restaurant owners don’t have the resources to build a LEED-certified or totally sustainable restaurant, most all restaurant owners can do small things like recycle and change the types of light bulbs used in their establishments.

Save Money by Focusing on Energy and Water Waste

Restaurant operators are encouraged to pay increasing attention to the amount of energy their restaurant equipment utilizes. According to a recent article published by the National Restaurant Association, restaurant operators can save money when they know how much profit is getting eaten by fuel costs of inefficient restaurant equipment.

This does not necessarily mean that restaurant owners need to go out buy all new pieces of energy-star rated restaurant equipment. Monitoring your existing restaurant equipment for energy usage is an important first step in sustainability. If you happen to see a spike in energy usage, this could signal a problem such as an equipment malfunction or employees failing to follow recommended procedures, like turning equipment off when it’s not needed.

Restaurant owners are also encouraged to examine the processes in which they perform common tasks. The industry’s “tried and true” way of doing things, may not always be the most energy efficient or cost-effective. The article sites an example of using a three-compartment sink for washing dishes. A lot of energy can go into making sure water used in the sink is kept at a certain temperature, whereas money could be saved over the long-run by using a dishwasher instead.

Although energy or water-conserving restaurant equipment might cost more, the difference is offset more quickly today as utility costs are continuously rising. Plus, many utilities and/or local governments offer rebates and other incentives for buying more-efficient restaurant equipment.

Does Your Restaurant Compost?

A recent article in the Washing Post discussed restaurants’ latest efforts at becoming increasingly green. Many restaurants nationwide are no longer discarding food scraps into the trash, but instead they are going green by composting. The restaurants dispose of food scraps into separate food waste containers or bins, and then dump the scraps into a compost pile on their property.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps account for some 13 percent, or 32 million tons, of the total garbage generated nationwide. Of that 32 million tons, less than 3 percent is composted, with the remainder discarded in incinerators and landfills. The food waste that languishes in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Although beneficial to the environment, composting does bring on its own set of challenges. For starters it may be difficult to find a compost hauler in your area. Not to mention your neighbors may not appreciate the odors produced by your compost, nor the rodents and bugs it may attract.

Plus, there would be the extra costs associated with having someone remove the compost material from your restaurant. However you may be able to offset these additional costs by renegotiating with your existing/traditional waste removal service, as the overall amount of waste they remove should decrease.

When it comes to saving energy in a restaurant, how your restaurant uses and maintains its restaurant equipment and restaurant supplies can be just as important as what type of restaurant equipment you use. Buying and using an energy-efficient oven, for example, is undoubtedly a good starting point and could trim hundreds of dollars from your annual utility bills—but saving the most energy and money will require energy efficient restaurant equipment along with good energy practices.

1. Cut idle time. Do you really need to leave all of your restaurant equipment on, or on standby, all of the time? Leaving appliances on standby costs you money, so implement a startup/ shutdown plan to make sure you’re using only the equipment that you need, when you need it. The savings can be substantial.

2. Cook wisely. Ovens tend to be more efficient than rotisseries; griddles tend to be more efficient than broilers. Review your menu and cooking methods to find ways to rely on your more efficient pieces of restaurant equipment.

3. Maintain and repair. Everyday wear and tear can quickly drive up your energy bills. A leaky gasket, clogged burner or loose oven-door hinge may not waste much energy on their own, but combine all three together and suddenly the waste is significant. Stop waste by staying on top of repairs.

4. Recalibrate to stay efficient. Over time and use the performance of your restaurant equipment will degrade. Thermostats and control systems can fail or fall out of calibration. Take the time to do an occasional thermostat check and recalibrate as necessary to ensure that you’re cooking at the right temperature. Repair or replace broken control panels on ovens, steamers, and other pieces of restaurant equipment that feature control systems.

5. Check pilot lights. Older gas-burning restaurant equipment typically feature pilot lights, which require a constant stream of gas to stay lit. Check pilot flames occasionally to make sure you’re using only as much gas as you need. A quick visual inspection is enough to tell if your pilot lights are over-fired. An over-fired pilot will have a tall yellow flame instead of a blue bullet shaped flame. If you do find that you’re pilot light is over-fired, you’ll want to adjust the pilot light back to a blue bullet shaped flame.

6. Buy energy-efficient restaurant equipment. Inefficient appliances increase your energy expenses in two different ways by having higher operating costs along generating more heat. This additional heat generated by an inefficient appliance forces the air-conditioning system of a restaurant work harder to maintain proper air temperature.

7. Buy with capacity in mind. Evaluate your food production needs and try to buy restaurant equipment that matches your needs on a pounds-per-hour basis. Oversized appliances can quickly cut a restaurant’s profits via higher capital costs as well as increased operating costs. An oversized appliance may be energy efficient but still cost additional money as you are basically paying to heat up the extra production capacity of the unit that you’ll never use.

Want to learn more about how Serv-U can help make your restaurant more energy-efficient? Be sure to visit the Energy Star section of our website or feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or click the picture of the customer service representative at the top left corner of each page of the site to launch a live chat.