As energy costs continue to rise, restaurant facility managers and owners are inevitably faced with higher electric bills — and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. So it’s no surprise that energy efficiency programs are continually gaining more widespread attention and support to gain better control of rising energy costs. While many businesses are being more diligent about turning off lights, using less hot water and even keeping the thermostat at a less comfortable temperature, these measures often don’t result in a significant savings in electricity costs. But there are new energy efficiency technologies on the market that can help business owners and managers save money while still keeping restaurants comfortable for both customers and employees.

Typically, HVAC systems account for a large portion — in many cases, more than 50% — of the total energy used by commercial buildings. HVAC units generally over-consume and under-perform due to a number of factors, including poor initial building design, lack of proper maintenance, poor control strategies and advanced equipment age, just to name a few. Heating and cooling a building is often controlled by setting fixed, pre-programmed temperature targets with simple “on/off” operations or by using a timer.

Even in the best-maintained systems, restaurant facility managers and owners often compensate for HVAC systems by making heating and cooling times longer than necessary to ensure an “optimal” temperature is reached at the right time — typically during a restaurant’s hours of operation. And, aside from temperature inside the building, other environmental influences are not normally taken into consideration with the controls for a HVAC system. For example, an overcast day will likely require less HVAC output than a sunny day. This leads to unnecessary over-usage of equipment, resulting in wasted energy — and higher electric bills.

Replacing older HVAC units with newer, more efficient ones can be expensive and is usually not even necessary to reduce energy costs. More and more restaurants are looking for technology solutions that can help existing HVAC units to operate more efficiently, without sacrificing comfort inside the building. This can be especially challenging in the restaurant industry when considering all the factors that can influence the temperature in different areas of a building. For example, the temperature in the dining room or the bathrooms will vary greatly from an ordering area, and there will be an even greater temperature variance in the food prep and kitchen areas. Typically, most energy management systems rely solely on what the temperature is in a single area inside a building, without taking into account the many variables that affect thermal comfort.

A Golden Corral franchise in Wilmington, North Carolina, recently turned to innovation and technology to help reduce electricity costs and usage at its 10,500-square-foot facility. To kick start its energy efficiency program, the restaurant first initiated an energy audit process to identify sources of potential energy and cost savings through the building’s HVAC systems. The process included a walk-through survey to determine how energy was being used in the building and to assess how the building’s HVAC systems were operating. The audit process also examined the restaurant’s “people factor,” or the number of people in the building at various times during business hours. Auditors interviewed restaurant employees to determine if both staff and customers generally perceive the building to be warm or cool, and to determine if employees are allowed access to the HVAC systems and are able to control the heating and cooling of the facility.

In addition to personal experiences, the audit involved the collection of a variety of data, including building location and size, energy sources, energy usage types, historical energy use, and type of equipment. Golden Corral’s audit examined which areas of the restaurant were heated and cooled by the building’s six rooftop HVAC units, and also evaluated the restaurant’s interior lighting, lighting controls, cooking equipment, kitchen exhaust system and hot water. Intensive engineering and economic analysis was then performed on all data to produce projected energy and financial performance under a new energy efficiency program.

Before implementing an energy efficiency program, the Golden Corral franchise was using more than 1,040,200 kWh annually, translating to a cost of more than $75,000 for its electrical energy use. The building housing the Golden Corral is about 20 years old and the six HVAC units, while in fair working condition, were all between 3 and 20 years old. Only one of the units had been replaced within the last 3 years. Golden Corral’s audit determined that a number of factors were resulting in excessive use of the building’s existing HVAC systems, which meant wasted energy, and perhaps most importantly, wasted money in the restaurant’s high electricity bills.

Golden Corral installed new technology that provides the franchise with HVAC control, optimization and real-time reporting to help reduce its electricity usage and save about $800 a month on electricity bills. A new master control unit with wireless controls for the system was installed at the store and connected to an Internet gateway. Instead of relying on set temperatures and time schedules to determine the energy used and HVAC costs, the new system uses a self-refining logic that calculates the optimum temperature every minute of the day. This centralized control removes the incidental waste that results from striving to achieve one set temperature. By allowing the Master Control Unit to intelligently calculate what the optimum temperature should be, the system uses the least amount of energy possible and improves the internal conditions of the building. Staff members no longer have to alter heating and cooling schedules or make random temperature adjustments, which had been contributing to excess electric consumption. The system also uses an algorithm to lower demand charges by prioritizing units and ensuring that all units aren’t running at the same time. The technology automatically calculates intelligent start-and-stop sequences so the HVAC units only run for exactly the amount of time required to take the restaurant from its nighttime temperature to its target daytime temperature. This means no unnecessary usage of power before opening or after closing each day.

To further reduce energy consumption, the technology is the only system of its kind that takes into account a wide range of factors instead of just target set temperature for controlling the HVAC system. Other factors considered include external weather data, internal and external humidity, solar heat load, building position and sunlight, typical clothing worn for the time of year, and building occupancy. Taking these factors into consideration allows the HVAC units to run more effectively without causing disruption, while also providing a more comfortable climate for staff and customers.

The technology also provides Golden Corral with built-in predictive and preventative maintenance functionality, enabling the restaurant to isolate equipment problems before they occur. Before implementing the technology, Golden Corral typically would only become aware of maintenance issues when a major equipment failure occurred, resulting in customer and employee dissatisfaction due to comfort issues. With the ability to more proactively predict problems, the restaurant is able to reduce the amount of time that equipment would run inefficiently.

Wireless temperature and humidity sensors were also installed in various areas in the building to provide Golden Corral with continuous reports of how the HVAC system is functioning and to provide daily and monthly snapshots of energy and cost reductions. With immediate savings in its electricity costs, the restaurant expects to see a return on investment for the technology in less than 2 years — much faster than replacing the multiple HVAC units. What’s more, the franchise was able to take advantage of incentive programs offered by its local utility company to help cover the cost of installing the technology.

By better controlling HVAC energy consumption, restaurant owners and managers can maintain an optimal environment for customers and staff. True energy efficiency technology and innovation, like that in the Golden Corral franchise, can result in reduced electricity usage and costs, as well as increased comfort for everyone that steps into your restaurant.