Foodservice Energy Challenge
Restaurants are among the most energy-intensive commercial spaces making utilities one of the highest costs facing restaurateurs. With low-profit margins, any monetary savings from energy efficiency improvements significantly benefit the bottom line.
Foodservice Energy Challenge champions: Jack Astor’s Barrie, Manitoulin Hotel and York University, Stong Hall have taken on this challenge to implement energy conservation measures and staff training.
Each champion has realized at least some of the following benefits:
- reduced their energy consumption anywhere between 3% – 20%
- reduced their water consumption by 15%
- increased awarness of their staff through training
- build at strong understanding of current programs
- created a base for future projects and training initiatives
Lessons Learned
Sometimes it is the trees that we need to see, not just the forest. When it comes to reducing energy consumptions, it may just be twice as true. We cannot see the energy, we can only observe how it is converted to either light, heat or motion.
- know where the energy is used and how it is used
- understand how much of energy used is converted to “useful” / “desirable” result
- pick an area where changes would have the biggest impact
- choose small, achievable changes first
- have a roadmap to build up to large projects
- review regularly whether the changes still fulfill your goal
- don’t get discouraged by roadbloacks, preserverance is rewarded
- sometimes things don’t work as planned, they become invaluable lessons
- engage your staff and make them part of the changes
- get help, this is journey is not to be traveled alone
Services Provided
Project Management
- Budget development and cost estimations
- Management of cross-sectoral teams
- Project plan development and execution
- Liaison between FSEC teams and case study participants
- Coordination of marketing deliverables
Sustainability Consulting
- Key metrics review and consultation
- Stakeholder engagement
- Resources compilation
- Case study report development