Restaurant/Food Service

Restaurant and food service facilities are nationally rated as having the highest energy intensity (energy used per square foot per year) of all commercial building types with an energy intensity of 260,000 Btuh (often more) per square foot. The average for all commercial buildings is 90,000 Btuh per square foot.

Energy is used in food service facilities predominantly for cooking, refrigeration, hot water, HVAC, and lighting. These uses represent the greatest opportunities for reducing energy consumption and improving the bottom line.

According to the Food Service Technology Center as cited by the US EPA at Energystar.gov, “80 percent of the $10 billion annual energy bill for the commercial food sector is expended by inefficient food cooking, holding and storage equipment”.

Energy Savings Target – A ‘reasonable’ target for energy savings in restaurant and food service facilities is 30%. An example 10,000 square foot business using the national average of 260,000 Btuh of energy per square foot per year pays a power bill of approximately $100,000 per year. Thirty percent savings on energy equate to a $30,000 reduction in energy cost.

Those Same Energy Savings on Margin – Our example 10,000 square foot food service business, saving $30,000 per year on a 4% margin is able to re-direct $790,000 in gross receipts to other purposes than paying an energy bill.

Resources –
Food Service Technology Center  – Comprehensive resource focused on energy efficiency for restaurants and other food service facilities.

Life-Cycle Cost Calculators – Provide total cost comparisons between different pieces of equipment through their service lives. The differences can add up to big dollar and energy savings amounts.

Wisconsin Focus on Energy – This program has a very informative and extremely useful website.