It’s all about how well it cooks.” I don’t recall the !rst foodservice person to tell me this, but I heard it a lot when I !rst got into researching, developing and testing commercial foodservice (CFS) equipment. It doesn’t matter how cool it looks, how fast it cooks or

how much energy it will save – if the chef doesn’t like the way it prepares his food, you’ll never get it in the kitchen.

"is is the main reason technology advancement in commercial foodservice has lagged behind other areas like water heating and space conditioning. Many of the !rst generation designs for natural gas cooking equipment and burner systems have changed very little over the decades because the quality of the food produced has been consistent and great tasting. If it’s not broken, they don’t want you to !x it.

In terms of the overall costs to a restaurant, the energy for cooking is less than the cost of the food, the equipment and the labor. While those costs steadily increased over time, the cost of natural gas remained

relatively steady until the mid-1970s. At that point we experienced our !rst energy crisis and the cost of natural gas at the wellhead increased 15-fold. (See Figure 1)

"e response to this was the !rst concerted e#orts by the natural gas industry and the government to develop and fund programs to improve the e$cient use of natural gas. During this period, research time and funds were directed toward new burner designs and improved control systems. Many of the designs developed during this period are still in use in commercial foodservice equipment, especially fryers.

Performance and E!ciencyDevelopment of new CFS equipment still focused on cooking ability, but e$ciency became a close second as the main concern for manufacturers and restaurant owners. However, as the cost of natural gas decreased and became steady in the 1990s, much of the new appliance development focused back on the cooking

performance and !rst cost of the appliance. E$ciency became less of a concern. In 2002, when gas prices began a steady increase, (See Figure 2) once again e$ciency became of interest to the natural gas and CFS industry. "e funding of projects that focused on developing new e$cient combustion systems steadily grew and programs like Energy Star® helped to educate restaurateurs on the bene!ts of energy e$cient equipment and promoted rebates for their purchase.

"e cost of natural gas peaked in 2008 and began a downward trend when the increased availability of domestic supplies and other factors resulted in a signi!cant drop in prices. While interest in e$ciency decreased somewhat,

GFENGas Foodservice Equipment Network

NEWS FROM THE NETWORK

Why E!ciency Still Mattersby Frank Johnson, Gas Technology Institute

4 COOKING FOR PROFIT comes to you compliments of your gas energy provider / July 2014

Figure 1– U.S. Natural Gas Wellhead Price. Source: EIA

it was not to the same level as in the 1990s. Many factors contributed to this, including a willingness of the public to support e$ciency as part of the “green movement.” An increased awareness of green issues meant the public was willing to support restaurants that invested in green measures such as more e$cient equipment. Utility companies and government agencies continued to invest in energy e$ciency technology research and development through individual and collaborative programs.

Restaurants Are High Energy Business"e CFS industry is a signi!cant and stable market for energy use in North America. According to survey data gathered by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), commercial foodservice customers have 2.2 times the energy intensity (BTU/%2) of the average commercial customer. "e best available data from the National Restaurant Association 2014 Forecast suggests that over 450 trillion BTUs of energy are consumed yearly. Sales in North America are estimated to reach over $683 billion in 2014.

Bill Liss, Managing Director of End Solutions and President of Fisher-Nickel, Inc. (FNi), explains, “Restaurants and institutional foodservice operators are an important and growing part of the U.S. economy and the local community. For utility companies, these energy intensive commercial customers can bene!t substantially from the development and adoption of new energy e$cient equipment. "rough R&D and

emerging technology deployment initiatives, we see signi!cant opportunities to bring new solutions to the foodservice industry. ”

Recent R&D activities have included developing more e$cient gas-!red burners, improved control systems, and advanced heat exchangers.

Real World Equipment TestsAnother R&D area that has bene!ted CFS is the development of programs that identify energy e$cient cooking technologies and !nd working restaurants to test the equipment. Existing, less e$cient equipment is monitored for energy usage during normal operations and then replaced with equivalent energy e$cient equipment. "e energy usage is then compared and the savings calculated for the restaurant.

"e main reason energy e$ciency still matters for CFS operators is, despite the recent decrease in energy costs, signi!cant savings can still be realized by using energy e$cient equipment.

An example of the bene!ts for a typical sit-down restaurant serving American cuisine is shown in Figure 3. "e results in the table show the savings based on replacing a less e$cient Combi, a Convection Oven, two Fryers, a Griddle, a Rack Oven and a Charbroiler with newer, more e$cient models using the Life-Cycle Cost Calculators from FNi (visit !shnick.com). "e operating hours, equipment usage rates and food production rates are based on an existing restaurant and energy rates for Chicago.

Even factoring in the additional !rst costs associated with more e$cient equipment, signi!cant savings can still be obtained over the lifetime of the equipment and there are other bene!ts beyond savings. “Restaurants are constantly facing increasing operating

Savings of E!cient versusStandard Cooking Equipment SAVINGSAnnual Therms 5,047Annual Energy Costs $3,372Lifetime* Therms 60,564Lifetime* Cost $40,464

Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet

6 COOKING FOR PROFIT comes to you compliments of your gas energy provider / July 2014

Figure 2

Figure 3 – Savings for a Typical Sit Down Restaurant *12 years assumed of equipment life

costs and increasing competition for America’s food dollar,” says David Zabrowski, General Manager of FNi. “"e simplest way to improve the bottom line for any restaurant is to incorporate energy e$cient equipment into its lineup. More e$cient equipment puts the energy into cooking food, instead of putting it into the already hot kitchen. E$cient equipment, such as Energy Star® fryers, griddles, and ovens provide higher throughput, faster recovery, and better performance. With greater performance, operators can have the con!dence that their food will come out faster and more consistent than with traditional equipment, enabling more sales during busy periods and directly improving pro!tability.”

As more demonstration projects are completed, the biggest bene!t has been in showing restaurant owners and operators that the new equipment can prepare their food products just as well as their older, less e$cient equipment.

“Many operators have built their menu items around familiar pieces of equipment,” Zabrowski says. “Utility-sponsored test kitchens allow customers to try equipment they may not have previously considered before they buy. "is provides a measure of con!dence that the new, energy-e$cient equipment will meet their production needs and helps to build a comfort level with the equipment before rolling it out into a working kitchen.”

Several utilities – Alabama Gas Corp., CenterPoint Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, Southern California Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southwest Gas – operate commercial foodservice test kitchens that allow restaurant owners to !rst try out the equipment preparing their own menu items before committing to the purchase of a new piece of equipment.

In the demonstration projects I have conducted at the Gas Technology Institute, we surveyed the owners and chefs to explain the energy and cost savings and to get input on the food quality and ease of operation. "is information is given to the manufacturers, and in

some cases results in changes to the equipment to meet the operator’s needs. At the end of the demonstration projects, we o#er to remove the new equipment and reinstall their old equipment. Not surprisingly, we have never had to reinstall the old equipment.

Satisfy Customers and Save EnergyContinued development of more e$cient commercial foodservice equipment and demonstrating to restaurant owners that the more e$cient equipment can save money – while still cooking food on their menus the way they and their customers demand – means e$ciency does still matter.

Brian Sudol, Manager, Key Accounts & Market Development for Oklahoma Natural Gas Company, says, “Restaurant operators must continue to look for ways to minimize operating expenses through e$cient energy management practices. Nationwide, natural gas costs have gone down while other expenses continue to rise. Installing high e$ciency natural gas equipment will not only increase energy savings, but will also help chefs produce food that’s more evenly prepared and better tasting! Cooking with high e$ciency natural gas equipment can provide the competitive edge over the competition because costs are lower, which ultimately means the customer pays less.”

Now that’s cooking with (just a little less) gas.

COOKING FOR PROFIT comes to you compliments of your gas energy provider / July 2014 7

Utility test kitchens give restaurant operators the opportunity to try out their own recipes on new gas equipment – before they buy. Many utilities also o!er rebates on energy e"cient technologies to help with #rst costs. (Above) Lorri Davidson works with restaurant customers in the Southwest Gas test kitchen.