TIPS FOR GREENER RESTAURANTS --- INCREASING PROFITS BY REDUCING WASTE

If you own or operate a restaurant saving energy, water and other natural resources and limiting waste is not just citizenship, it's good business. By adopting environmenally sound practices you can improve your profit margin without raising prices or comprimising quality. 

Restaurants use five times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings and five times more energy in the kitchen than in the rest of the building.  And all of the energy you waste doesn’t just disappear --- it turns to heat and makes everyone uncomfortable unless you crank up the air conditioner.  The New York Restaurant Association estimates that a 10% decrease in energy costs has the same impact on operating income as a 1.26% increase in sales.

This blog entry offers practical ways to save energy and water and to reduce some other forms of waste, but the most valuable part of it is in  the “USEFUL RESOURCES” section. That’s where you’ll find web sites with a wealth of information and the email address of someone who can arrange for a free audit of your restaurant sponsored by the New York Restaurant Association Education Foundation.

SAVE ENERGY   

• Make sure that all equipment is in good operating order, including heating and ventilating systems, appliances, and lighting controls.  Filters should be changed and coils should be cleaned often, especially in a restaurant.
• Only run equipment when you need to.  During slower times, turn off things that are not in use.
• When purchasing new appliances, computers or other equipment, get the most energy efficient models you can.  The EPA’s Energy Star designation is indicative of energy efficiency, but some of the listed items are even more efficient than others.
• If you are installing new lighting, consider engaging a lighting designer who is a LEED Accredited Professional. Good lighting design is an art and a science.
• For a very modest cost you can change old fashioned fluorescent bulbs to more efficient T8s.  You’ll not only save energy and money with this quick and easy change, the kitchen staff may feel more comfortable because more efficient lighting generates less heat.
• Turn off computers and other electronic devices when they are not in use.  Electronic devices use some power even when they are off, so it’s best to plug them into a power strip and power that off.
• Demand response systems or variable speed motors in range hoods can save a lot of money, both by reducing the energy consumed by blowers and by reducing the load on the heating and ventilation system.

SAVE WATER

·        Check for leaks. Everywhere.

·        Put aerators on faucets that you are not replacing.

·        Low-flow pre-rinse spray valves can save a lot of water.  They are inexpensive and easy to install.

·        If you are replacing plumbing fixtures or fittings purchase models that save water.  Low-flow faucets and dual-flush toilets are being used in all the best places.

·        Appliances vary in their water consumption, just as they do in their energy consumption, so if you’re buying anything new get the most efficient model possible.

·        It’s even more important to save hot water than cold water, because heating water takes so much energy. Insulating pipes and equipment is an easy and inexpensive way to conserve hot water. 

REDUCE WASTE

• Limit the use of disposable goods.
• Recycle cooking oil.  Your cooking waste is someone else’s biodiesel fuel.
• Track food waste and modify purchases accordingly.
• Donate surplus food to food banks.

USEFUL RESOURCES

The New York State Restaurant Association Education Foundation has a Green Hospitality Initiative. There is a workbook on their site that you can use on your own, and they have an EPA grant that allows them to offer restaurants free audits for energy, water and waste.
http://nysraef.org/

Flex Your Power – Provides a very useful best practices guide for restaurants called Boosting Restaurant Profits with Energy Efficiency.  The following link will get you to the section of the site I just mentioned, but poke around a bit because there’s also quite a bit of useful advice in other sections:

http://www.fypower.org/com/bpg/

Food Service Technology Center – Provides information about demand response kitchen exhaust, among other things. http://www.fishnick.com/ventilation/demandventilation/

Energy Star – Provides tips for saving energy and appliance efficiency ratings: 
www.energystar.gov