Effective environmental planning and design of kitchen facilities can help reduce your operating costs by reducing energy costs, chemical costs and maitenance costs. The technology is there and available to those operators smart enough to calculate the benefits and the payback period. The environmental benefit is a bonus.
Technology that is being used to manage costs include:
Refrigeration systems using polypropylene glycol which has a zero carbon footprint (GWP) instead of refrigerant gas which is between 1300kg and 2400kg CO2 for every 1kg of gas that leaks from the system. The cost of refrigerant gas increased by 40% in Europe in 2010 and its still going up. These Secondary Refrigeration systems will also reduce energy running cost by up to 25% and reduce maintenance cost up to 50%.
The application of electrolysed water for the cleaning (pH11.3) and sanitising (pH2.7) has the potential to reduce the cost of chemicals by 70% and offers a payback of between 1.3 and 3.1 years on the capital investment. The water is generated from ordinary salt and a small amount of electricity and eliminates the risks associated with handling caustic and other concentrates. The unique hand wash system times the washing and sanitising to ensure proper hygiene is achieved without the alergic reactions.
The application of variable demand kitchen ventilation systems will reduce the energy running cost by up to 70% through the automatic adjustment of the exhaust fan speed to the amount of heat, and discharge from the cooking equipment.
- Equipment for the drying and composting of food waste on the premises will reduce the need for pickup and land fill; a cost benefit to the operator and a benefit to the environment.
These are a small number of the strategies for increased efficiency and lower energy costs which we have developed over the years which also help our clients achieve green stars for their buildings as an additional benefit.