CHOOSE AN ENERGY STAR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN PACKAGE

According to Pacific Gas and Electric’s Food Service Technology Center, as much as 80 percent of the $10 billion annual energy bill for the commercial food service sector does no useful work. These lost energy dollars are often wasted in the form of excess heat and noise generated by inefficient appliances, heating ventilation and air conditioning systems, lighting and refrigeration. To help counter these costs, ENERGY STAR helps restaurant owners and operators improve the performance of their facilities and equipment while reducing energy costs. Restaurants that invest strategically can cut utility costs 10 to 30 percent without sacrificing service, quality, style or comfort — while making significant contributions to a cleaner environment.

Restaurants, or facilities with commercial kitchens, feature the majority of this equipment. They are one of the highest energy consumers of buildings — using approximately 250,000 Btu/sq.ft. This is roughly 2.5 times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings.

ENERGY STAR qualified equipment can be an answer to mounting energy bills. Purchasing ENERGY STAR qualified commercial food service equipment as a package for new kitchen construction or as a replacement for aging equipment, can save significant amounts of money and energy on foodservice operators’ electric, gas, water and sewer bills. Commercial food service products in six categories may earn the ENERGY STAR: fryers, hot food holding cabinets, commercial solid door refrigerators and freezers, and commercial steam cookers, commercial dishwashers, and commercial ice makers. Qualified products can save up to as much as 50 percent over their conventional counterparts.

SAVE ENERGY, SAVE MONEY

Outfitting an entire kitchen with a suite of ENERGY STAR Qualified Commercial Food Service Equipment could save operators about 285 Mbtu/year annually, or the equivalent of approximately $2500. Besides saving energy, ENERGY STAR qualified steam cookers and commercial dishwashers save water. Steam cookers that have earned the ENERGY STAR are 90% more water efficient than non-qualified steam cookers; an ENERGY STAR qualified commercial dishwasher is 25% more water efficient than standard models.

HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

Simple actions can make a big difference. Based on projected shipments of ENERGY STAR qualified commercial food service equipment, it is expected that approximately 35 thousand metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be avoided, the equivalent of about 25,000 cars.

EXAMPLES OF ENERGY STAR QUALIFIED FIXTURES
Changing the world starts with simple actions. When you replace light bulbs or entire light fixtures in your home with ones that have earned the government’s ENERGY STAR, you help preserve energy resources and reduce the risks of global warming while saving money and time buying and changing lights in your home.

ENERGY STAR qualified lighting provides bright, warm light but uses about 75% less energy than standard lighting, produce 75 percent less heat, and lasts up to 10 times longer.

To save the most energy and money, replace your highest used fixtures or the light bulbs in them with energy-efficient models. The five highest use fixtures in a home are typically the kitchen ceiling lights, the living or family room table and floor lamps, and outdoor porch or post lamp. ENERGY STAR qualified lighting fixtures and replacement bulbs can be found at home improvement and hardware stores, lighting showrooms, and other retail stores, including on-line outlets.

The smallest things can add up to a real difference. We encourage you to change out the light fixtures or bulbs at home that you use most with ENERGY STAR qualified models. If every American home replaced their 5 most frequently used light fixtures or the bulbs in them with ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR, we would save close to $8 billion each year in energy costs, and together we would prevent the greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars.

FACT: The energy used in the average home can be responsible for more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions of the average car. When you use less energy at home, you reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and help protect our environment from the risks of global climate change.