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The company also implemented green packaging options for all of its catered events. Employees can choose organic menu options and opt for lower lighting and temperature in the event hall to reduce energy use. When groups choose one of the green catering packages, sign boards are placed in the halls outside of the room to promote the event's green attributes.
"That has created some peer pressure among employees," Freeman says. "When they see those signs, they say, 'We should have made our meeting green,' which is driving momentum for the program."
Smaller Portions
Freeman is quick to point out that making dining operations greener can be easy to do, especially for smaller companies which may not face the same volume concerns facing his group. "There is a lot of misconception that green is difficult and costs a lot more money, but it doesn't," he says. "It's just a matter of changing the way you think."
A good place to begin is with a self-analysis, says Ray Soucie, president of RSA Food Service Consulting, a sustainable food service design firm in Portland, Ore. He notes that most utility companies and energy trusts will offer free audits and can connect companies with resources to help them define a baseline for their energy use and waste production. That gives businesses a measure from which to start, and an idea of where their biggest waste problems lie.
"Then take baby steps," he says. "Simple changes give the quickest return."
| Food for Thought: Making Your Dining Operations Greener |
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1. Create a plan and define a baseline for energy usage and waste production. Then start with small steps that will deliver quick results. 2. Replace all lighting with compact fluorescent bulbs. "From an energy savings standpoint, lighting is a slam dunk," says Chris Lane, Xanterra Parks and Resorts, adding that wall sconces and high quality fixtures can create the same warm setting that incandescent bulbs are known for. Related News & Blogs 3. Invest in energy efficient technology. Soucie points out that innovations in the past three to five years have made kitchen appliances far more energy- and water-efficient than their predecessors, making the capital investment in appliance upgrades a feasible cost and energy saving measure. 4. There are dozens of ways to green a dining operations, so just pick one and get moving. Microsoft's Mark Freeman recommends working with an environmental consultant or green association to get started. "We started with cups and went from there. The key is to just do something." |
GreenerDesign.comHeating, venting and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and water consumption are the two biggest energy users in kitchens and offer the greatest opportunity for savings. "The HVAC draws 35 percent of the energy in the building," Soucie says. "If you reduce the air volume exhausted out in your kitchen by implementing a more efficient exhaust system, you reduce the air you lose, and you reduce the amount of air you need to condition and bring back in."
He suggests doing an inventory of kitchen equipment, identify the machines that use the most energy, and define ways to improve or replace them. For example, you can retrofit spray valves for pre-rinse with low-flow heads, or for a larger capitol investment, replace older dishwashers with newer energy-efficient models that use 70 percent less hot water.
"That's 70 percent less water you have to pay to heat, and 70 percent less water going down the drain," he points out.
More substantial upgrades might include a conversion system that allows the kitchen to capture steam exhaust from dish machines to heat incoming water; infrared broilers that use less gas; and induction cooking ranges that require less heat.
"It's a matter of making a capitol investment based on the defined return on investment," he says, noting that the payback in energy savings makes the ROI of these investments fairly easy to justify.
Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a national state park hotel and dining operator based in Greenwood Village, Colo., made several of these equipment upgrades in its dining operations across the country with impressive results.
Along with offering sustainable menu items, eliminating disposable plates, cups and utensils from cafeterias, and composting waste, several of its operations feature innovative energy-saving technologies, such as variable speed hood exhaust systems over stove tops.
"In most restaurants, the hood exhaust runs 18 hours a day whether they are cooking or not," says Chris Lane, Xanterra's vice president of environmental affairs. "If you put a smoke stick in the dining room and follow its path, all that air goes right up the exhaust and out the roof. That's a ridiculous amount of waste."
Instead, the variable speed exhaust system uses infrared sensors and carbon dioxide detectors to automatically turn itself on and off based on the presence of smoke. "It is off half of the time," Lane says.
