Author: Lindsey Burbee

World Environment Day

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

– Robert Swan, Author

What is World Environment Day?

Focused at home in your local community, nationally, or globally, World Environment Day is a day for global citizens to do something to take care of the Earth.

Why Should I Get Involved?

You have the opportunity to  share your ideas and activities for making our world cleaner, brighter, and greener– one action at a time! Each year on June 5th, World Environment Day is organized around a specific theme that highlights a particular environmental concern. For 2018, World Environment Day is focused on the issue of plastic pollution. Plastic pollution in our water is killing marine species, polluting beaches, and poisoning human diets. According to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, on average 60-95% of worldwide marine litter is composed of plastic. These plastics take 450-1,000 years to degrade, yet the plastic material never fully breaks down and it leaves in its toxic wake, micro-plastics. These micro-plastics end up in the stomachs of our marine life and subsequently in the stomachs of humans as we consume seafood and other meat poisoned with plastic pollution.

What Can I Do?

“Raise your voice, not the sea level!” — Message from World Environment Day

  1. For World Environment Day, go out to your local community either solo or with an organized group and pick up trash that may be littering streets, parks, or other landscapes. While picking up this waste, you and your fellow volunteers can take an extra step to ensure the proper materials are being recycled. Recycling is easy and recycled materials help reduce the amount of garbage in landfills, waterways, and the stomachs of animals! Just check with your local recycling center to see what materials they may accept.
  2. Bring re-usable bags when you are shopping. Many think to take their own bags to the grocery store, but think about taking your own bags to the mall or as you run normal errands to any store! Many retailers like Ikea, Adidas, Whole Foods, and most recently Disney have eliminated the use of plastic bags as well!
  3. Re-purpose plastic arts and crafts in an exhibit that focuses on sustainability. For example, convert plastic drinking bottles into planter’s for herbs and flowers, just cut a rectangular hole in the side of the bottle, fill with soil, and add your plant or seeds.
  4. Ditch the single use plastic water bottles. Travel with your own reusable water bottle, there are water sources everywhere that you can use to fill up your bottle. It can even help you save money at airports where a bottle of water can be expensive!
  5. Utilize reusable or compostable cutlery (you can easily order on Amazon!), and compostable and sustainable food wrap instead of plastic versions. Keep a set of silverware in your desk or purse!
  6. Educate yourself on misconceptions about recycling! Not all plastics can be recycled through your local provider and not everything that says biodegradable is a better alternative.

 

Less means more – the Reduction Revolution is upon us

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

‘Reduce – Reuse – Recycle’ has been the Environmental movement “catch phrase”, since the phrase was introduced for Earth Day in 1970.  It’s simple, clean, and powerful.  It’s misunderstood, however.  Ask yourself which of these three you do the most; I also said recycle.  It’s a great start but you can do better – we all can.

 

Think about it for a moment.  How often do you truly recycle?  How often do you reuse items like take-out containers or glass jars for food storage?  But, how often to you make it a priority to just use less of everything (for example, bringing your own cloth grocery bags to the grocery store)?  If we as individuals and businesses intend to really enact change we must focus on reduction.  Cape Town, South Africa has recently limited the water supply of all residents due to an extreme shortage.

 

The foodservice industry is making a major push to focus on efficiency with respect to the amount of food produced as food waste moves to the forefront of consumer’s minds.    Plastic waste is so bad that straws are being removed from restaurants (even McDonalds!) and people now have to pay per plastic shopping bags in certain states if they don’t bring their own.  Can you believe that in 2015, nearly 7 billion tons of plastic waste was produced but only 9 percent was actually recycled?  Come on people!  Even major brands are overhauling their whole product offering in efforts to ‘reduce’.  GM has set a goal to completely get rid of all gas and diesel vehicles and produce an all-electric fleet by 2023.   There is a theme here if you can’t tell;  reduction.  We, as a society, are finally changing our behaviors as a whole. It’s a slow burn, but I believe our society is on the cusp of the Reduction Revolution.

 

Enter, Melink’s Intelli-Hood.  Reduction has always been the name of the game!  Our pioneering system has been reducing commercial kitchen exhaust fan energy use for over 20 years in over 11,000 commercial kitchens to date; we have only scratched the surface!  Did you know that commercial kitchens consume over three times the energy of the average commercial building per square foot (as per the United States Energy Information Administration).  Within this energy intensive space, the kitchen ventilation system comprised of the exhaust and supply fans consume nearly 30% of this energy; this is even higher when fans are left on 24×7.  What a significant waste of energy and dollars!

 

Intelli-Hood simply reduces kitchen exhaust fan energy and also reduces the amount of “Make Up Air” or “Return Air” thus accounting for a reduction in the condition air as well!  The direct result of this means more money in our clients pockets.  Use less energy, save more money (not to mention the other intangibles benefits).

 

As an example, the foodservice industry sees an average profit margin of 3.5%.  The impacts of cost savings with DCKV continues to be incredibly significant to the bottom line profitability.  Here is a great case study showing how Intelli-Hood reduced the utility costs so much that we were able to save them over $14 million dollars which they could spend on the facets of their business that could drive more revenue. Incredible.

 

At the end of the day Intelli-Hood defines the reduce, reuse, recycle motto.  We reduce operating expenses, reuse those saved dollars to spend elsewhere while we live to recycle this technology in all commercial kitchens on planet earth. We intend to change the world here at Melink as we know that our children and future generations need this change.  While Melink continues to do more in terms of energy solutions, our society needs to use a little less.  The time is now.

Effects of dynamic air flow in kitchen environments and the importance of air balancing

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee
GROWING HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY:

As we all know, the hospitality industry is developing a lot these days. Owners are investing heavily into their hotels in order to globalize them and create unique destinations. This development is mainly due to the increase in international tourism and business travel driving the need to create different cuisine options. The multitude of cuisine options and equipment designs can have a significant impact on dynamic air flows and energy consumption.

AIR CONDITIONING IN KITCHEN:

In the hospitality industry, the focus is being given to the improvement of centralized kitchen air conditioning to ensure that the chefs working in the midst of heat are safe and comfortable. Even small-scale kitchens are focused on providing air conditioned kitchens now more than ever.

VENTILATION SYSTEMS OF OLD AND MODERN KITCHEN TRENDS:

In the earlier days, importance was generally given to extract and discharge of exhaust air alone. Whereas now, in trending commercial kitchen ventilation system, the following ventilation systems are present to do air balancing and bring comfort in the kitchen zone-wise:

  • HOT Kitchen Zone – When cooking appliances are present, exhaust air and fresh air (makeup air) systems will be present to extract thermal plumes and radiant heat.
  • COLD Kitchen Zone – The preparation area and refrigeration area have conditioned air and return air systems present.
  • Dish Washing Zone – With the heavy output of steam, systems are in place to extract the steam immediately and recycle makeup air through the area.
DYNAMIC AIR FLOW AND IMPORTANCE OF AIR BALANCING:

Dynamic Air flow occurs due to the following reasons:

  • The heat load is not calculated per the equipment specifications.
  • Selection of improper kitchen equipment that leads to variation in heat load. Examples include wrong burner design, equipment without proper insulation, wrong electrical appliance selections.
  • High air draft transfer through doors/service door/high velocity diffusers
  • Equipment placement changes. An example would be changing the positions of equipment against the original kitchen design.
  • Extraction hood is undersized as it affects suction.
  • Increase in the number of people in the building.
  • Improper selection of exhaust fan, make up air fan, and exhaust & make up air ducting system

As a result of the air draft energy savings plummet!

ILLUSTRATION:

Something that I have observed quite often, is the high draft air transfer through different doors. This is a primary cause of dynamic air flow. Optimal kitchen design would allow the natural hot air from cooking to go undisturbed.

Service door opening affecting dynamic air flow.Service door opening allowing natural air flow.

In the 1st image above, the service door is open so the hot air that is rising is disturbed due to the high draft air from the next room, creating turbulence. The high draft should be balanced to decrease energy loss.

In the 2nd image above, the service door is closed allowing the hot air to rise without disturbance.

When there is a turbulence, the temperature in the kitchen will quickly rise as the extraction does not happen correctly and it combines with exhaust and supply air. Therefore, this makes the kitchen staff become very uncomfortable, air conditioning is increased to cool down the kitchen, and the exhaust is ramped up. Because of this, extra energy is used when it could have been avoided. If this is constantly being repeated, it will result in discomfort, hygiene will be affected, and there will be a huge loss of energy.

As you are designing your next kitchen, be cognizant of the fact that kitchen design impacts more than meets the eye. Kitchen efficiency goes beyond the layout that makes it easiest for your staff to work in, it entails energy usage and safety as well.

Energy Upgrades In Prison Facilities

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

It is no secret that many prison facilities are outdated, understaffed, and overcrowded. Sadly, these problems can all be traced back to being underfunded.  With large pressing problems like this, it makes the idea of certain energy upgrades in prisons like installing a new LED light fixture or flow meters on hydronic components seem miniscule while the impact could greatly help the underlying problems.

The Problem – “There’s only three ways to spend the taxpayer’s hard-earned when it comes to prisons.More walls. More bars. More guards.” – Shawshank Redemption

Although it may seem like this statement is true, most of the costs associated with state run facilities is lumped into personnel costs within the operating expenses. Salaries, overtime, and benefits comprised over 66% of the cost to run state facilities. Additionally, an average of 17% of funding across the nation went to facility maintenance, prison programs, debt services, and legal judgments. This data tells us that most of the cost of prisons goes unsurprisingly, to operating costs. The operating costs can range from your day to day maintenance, to the utility bills, to providing food and supervision for inmates. The average salary of correctional officers in the US is $37,717 per year, so adding even one more CO to help an understaffed facility can have a substantial effect on the budget.

The Solution – Lower Operating Costs

However, the problem with initiatives and projects to reduce operating costs, is that they are met with red tape. Every state has their own nuances but all capital expenditures go through lengthy processes to determine what is necessary and when. So, how can a facility take control of own their operating costs without the capital expenditures? For multiple energy efficiency and water conservation measures in one project, energy service performance contracts can be a powerful tool if managed properly. These projects can range from low flow facets, to LED lighting, to control systems, to mechanical system replacements.

However, some states have different laws regarding performance contracts so if this route is not an option, individual conservation measures can be implemented creatively. For example, demand control kitchen ventilation is a relatively low-cost measure with a high ROI, making it a versatile measure for performance contracts and as a standalone facility upgrade. By slowing the kitchen exhaust fans in relation to the cooking activity, savings are realized through fan energy reduction and reduction of conditioned air that is wasted. In many cases there are even lease options among other financing routes that could make your project cash flow positive from the first month of implementation! With the saved money that would be going toward the electric bill, the extra cash can be used for other costs across the facility.

Putting Your Savings to Work

Implementing energy efficiency products like DCKV can save you money, but how much are we talking? For a large facility, let’s say you save $30,000 a year on your electric and conditioned air. In North Carolina, that is enough to cover the cost of one inmate for 335 days or 335 inmates for one day. In Florida, that is enough to cover the costs to house and supervise one inmate for 561 days or the salary of an entry level Correctional Officer. Why is Florida’s cost per inmate so much less than North Carolina? The state completes a lot of ESCO projects, so overall, their facilities are more efficient.

In the end implementing energy efficient technologies and practices, not only helps your prison run more efficiently, it reduces operating expenses so your cash can be used where it makes a  bigger impact; paying for more CO’s, building upgrades, and additional programs to reduce the recidivism rate.

Sustaining A Great Place To Work

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

During almost every interview or conversation I have with a non-Melinker, I am asked why I love Melink. My response is always the same, the employees!I am grateful for the “Good Mornings” as employees pass my office, to hear Lorie’s laughter, the conversations at the coffee pot, and sharing thoughts and ideas with my teams.  If you know Melink, you know that we are a leader in energy-efficiency and sustainability practices, but our biggest asset and greatest advantage is our employees.

Every year, one of our top strategic objectives is to ensure our organization is considered a Great Place to Work.  I am proud to say that for the last 2 years we have accomplished that goal! It’s very gratifying to know that 93% of our employees told the institute they feel management is honest and ethical in its business practices. What’s more, 96% indicated they have great pride in who we are and what we do!

So, how do we sustain and keep that momentum?

We have to be transparent about our goals and actions, and very intentional about making sure we are meeting the needs of our employees and providing a satisfying work life, which can certainly be tricky with half of our employees being remotely located across the world. That is why I love Springtime at Melink as we approach our Annual Company Meeting.  This is our own version of a big Family Reunion! We get the chance to be together in one and ensure all voices are heard. All employees gather at our headquarters in Milford, Ohio to reconnect (or meet for the first time!), catch up, and learn more about each other.  We share thoughts, conduct training, share our hopes and concerns for the coming year, and of course have fun!  We will beat up new processes, challenge each other to meet our customer needs, and focus on delivering the best results to achieve our annual and strategic goals. It is an all-hands-on-deck, no holding anything back type of week!

Our 2018 meeting is right around the corner and the planning is almost finished. Food has been ordered, hotels confirmed, flights are scheduled, and agendas finalized. Our remote employees will start to arrive tomorrow. Our days may be packed with educational sessions, brainstorming meetings, internal presentations, and forecasting, but we have plenty of fun planned too!  This year we are excited to have Scott Tallman share his BBQing talents for a cookout, and enjoy a dinner cruise down the Ohio River (thanks Lorie!).

The energy is building and we will soon conduct our survey again. How did we measure up? How do we impact our employees? How do we continue to keep them engaged? While I have a good pulse on where we stand, I can’t wait to show the world once again how Melink stacks up as a Great Place To Work!

Higher Education Taking Action Against Climate Change

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

Climate change has been a hot topic recently, and higher education is taking note and taking action. While hundreds of schools have already made pledges to increase sustainability across their campus, 13 schools are taking the lead and taking it a step farther. At this year’s 2018 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, 13 North American research universities launched the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3, a group committed to implementing green initiatives into their own campuses and leveraging their research and experience to help others do the same. For over a decade, these universities have been researching innovative ways to reduce energy consumption, and educating students on how to combat climate challenges that are quickly approaching, but now they taking it a step further to spread this expertise to accelerate change through all of higher education.

Colleges and Universities that have committed to take action on climate change
Colleges and Universities that have committed to take action on climate change. Source: Secondnature.org

As the first school listed on the Campus Carbon Neutrality commitment, Cornell University paved the way. They have made continual efforts to implement Energy Conservation Initiatives (ECI), committing $33M towards ECI’s over a recent 5-year period. The Ohio State University established goals to be carbon neutral by 2050 and to reduce total campus building energy consumption by 25%. Both of these schools have found ways to lessen their carbon footprint by implementing various sustainability practices and products campus wide. Reducing energy use in existing buildings have been an ongoing initiative by both universities focusing on modernizing building envelopes, implementation of building automation and control systems, heat recovery and lighting systems. Cornell states projects they’ve implemented to date have had a return on investment of five to seven years.

Intelli-Hood controls at Kennedy Center at The Ohio State University.
Intelli-Hood controls at Kennedy Center at The Ohio State University. Source: osu.edu

A place that can often be overlooked, but has a great impact, is the ventilation system in campus kitchens. With the demand of long hours to accommodate various student schedules, and high volume because of the dense population, campus kitchens tend to run a majority of the day. Depending where the university is located, various local and state codes may require fans to operate 24/7 if the site utilizes gas pilots on kitchen equipment which remain on overnight. The HVAC systems account for 29% of the energy consumption of a food service area, with up to 75% of this load able to be attributed to the commercial kitchen ventilation system.

Melink is the innovator of Demand Control Kitchen Ventilation (DCKV) with the Intelli-Hood® system. Both Cornell University and The Ohio State University found the benefit of utilizing dckv systems across a majority of their kitchens. Using Intelli-Hood®, systems operate at a lower overall fans speed average. In an average day, the Melink Intelli-Hood system can recognize up to a 45% reduction in fan speeds equivalent to approximately 83% electrical fan energy savings. Additionally, this reduced operation results in a decrease of load demand of surrounding HVAC equipment providing additional conditioned air savings that can be recognized.

Melink to become an ESOP!

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

In the next few weeks, Melink Corporation will become an employee-owned company. As the founder, owner, and CEO, I have decided to sell my shares to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) which will then distribute shares to our full-time employees over time. The reason is, I want our employees to feel ever more invested in Melink and its vision, mission, and values. And I want them to become beneficiaries of their investment of time, passion, and sacrifice when they retire.

After 31 years of building Melink Corporation into a national sustainability and clean energy leader, I will continue serving as CEO but increasingly focus on strategic and long-term opportunities. For example, after implementing the ESOP, I will focus on designing and constructing our second net-zero energy headquarters for future growth and expansion. I will also continue innovating new products and services, with our most recent ones being Positiv and Manifest. And I will serve as CEO of Melink Solar & Geo, a sister company of Melink Corporation, with the goal of mainstreaming the two most promising building technologies (solar PV and geothermal HVAC) from an energy and carbon reduction standpoint.

As many know, Melink Corporation could have been sold to a public company or private equity firm. The market is ripe for mergers and acquisitions in this new low-tax environment. But I did not want to make my legacy about selling out to the highest bidder and then losing everything I spent my life creating. My vision is that Melink Corporation should become a billion-dollar company by helping lead the clean energy revolution and solving one of the world’s most serious challenges: climate change. And I want to ensure that our family and high-performance culture thrives … and inspires other companies on how to achieve organizational excellence.

Moreover, the ESOP will allow Melink to attract and retain the best possible talent. Rather than our employees only buying stocks and mutual funds of other companies through their 401K plans, they will own the very company in which they spend the majority of their time and invest their hearts, minds, and souls. They will be even more proud to sell our awesome solutions and provide great customer service. They will respect and honor, but also hold accountable, their fellow workers all the more with their best efforts and intentions. Success will beget success.

This is not a get-rich quick scheme. It is a build wealth slowly plan. And it is a commitment and investment in our employees that will empower everyone to think and act like owners. And serve as true leaders to the world at large, our country, and our communities.

Melink Develops 1.26MW Solar Arrays At University Of Dayton

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Melink Corporation has announced a partnership with the University of Dayton to install 4,026 solar panels with a capacity of 1.26 megawatts of power at two of the University’s campus locations; Curran Place and Fitz Hall. Melink Corporation will engineer and construct the arrays, as well as own them and sell the electricity to the University as part of a long-term power purchase agreement.  The University has an option to purchase the arrays after eight years.

The solar arrays will provide nearly 10 percent of the power consumption of both buildings as well as power electric car stations at the two locations. Overall, the panels will provide approximately 2 percent of the campuswide power consumption and offset carbon emissions by about 1 percent annually. Offsetting campus carbon emissions by 1 percent in a year is equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 278 cars or the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 1.4 million pounds of burned coal, 140 homes, or conserving 3,010 barrels of oil.

 “We are super-excited to partner with the University of Dayton, said Melink CEO Steve Melink.  “This is an opportunity to educate and inspire not only the students and faculty but the public
throughout Ohio and the Midwest.  Sustainability and clean energy are the way of the future, and U.D. has just put a big stake in the ground as a leader.”  

 

Melink Corporation and the University of Dayton will work together to provide opportunities for students, faculty, and researchers to participate in the installation of
the modules, and document the process for future use. Post installation, the Hanley Sustainability Institute and the University of Dayton Engineers in Technical Humanitarian Opportunities of Service learning (ETHOS), among other faculty, staff and students,  plan to use the modules for sustainability research and/or incorporate them into the curriculum or other programming.

“One attractive feature of working with Melink is that Melink involves our students in this project from the very beginning and on an ongoing basis,” said Bob Brecha, director of research in the University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute. “Our campus has quite intentionally become a giant sustainability lab where students from all majors can have a hand in many of our efforts to become a greener campus.”

Learn about how solar could benefit your school or business at melinkcorp.com.

About Melink Corporation: We are a global provider of energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for the commercial building industry. With four business units and a singular energy mission, we help companies save energy, increase profits and make the world a more sustainable place.

Melink Corporation Awarded GSA Certification To Work Directly With U.S. Government Agencies

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

CINCINNATI, OH – Melink Corporation, a global provider of energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions, just announced it has been awarded a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Services 056 Contract. This 5-year contract will enable Melink Corporation to partner directly with U.S. government agencies to deliver Intelli-Hood®, their proprietary kitchen ventilation controls, for increased energy efficiency in cooking operations. .

The US Government has been making strides towards sustainability, adopting more products and services that will improve energy usage in their buildings. The US Army compiled research on exhaust air and makeup air hood optimization, showing both the energy and financial savings of using kitchen ventilation controls to regulate the fan speed found here. Melink Corp has worked on numerous US Government projects to date, with agencies such as DOD, DOE, VA Healthcare, GSA and others with cooking operations. This certification will make it easier for the government to implement Intelli-Hood into their projects and continue to make energy efficiency a priority.

“Melink is optimistic that this GSA contract award will increase opportunities for the Government to create more sustainable operations and eliminate barriers to purchasing our Intelli-Hood controls.” said Randy Miles, VP & General Manager of Intelli-Hood.

Since inventing the first demand control kitchen ventilation (DCKV) system over 30 years ago, Melink has created significant energy savings in over 30,000 hoods across the globe. Compatible with all manufacturers, Intelli-Hood can be used in both new construction and retro-fit projects. Unique dual sensors with self-learning algorithms ensure the safest environment and the highest energy savings.

To learn more about Intelli-Hood please visit Intellihood.com.

­­About Melink Corporation: A global provider of energy efficiency and renewable energy  solutions for the commercial building industry. With four business units and a singular energy mission, we help companies save energy, increase profits and make the world a more sustainable place.

Tax Reform Bill Windfall – Reinvest In Efficient Operations for the Long Haul

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

Your profits just increased 14%, what are you going to do with all that cash???

Large US companies are on tap to reap the benefits of a 21% corporate tax, down from 35% (not factoring in Effective Tax Rates), under the new federal tax bill and there are many theories on where the money will go. Several companies have already given out bonuses, announced minimum wage increases, increased 401k matches, stock buyback programs, and increased shareholder dividends.  While all these are great short term shots in the arm during a time of robust economic growth, I’d like to argue that the smart play would be to invest in operational and energy efficiencies to prepare for an economic pullback and eventual awakening of the bears. Fortunately for many companies this recent time of growth has come over a period in which energy prices have been relatively flat ,or declining, resulting in reduced expenses and increased profit margins.  The rates for natural gas are slightly above 10-year lows and electrical pricing has shown a modest increase of 3% on average across the United States (https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state). It would be short sided and foolish to think these rates will remain near basement levels for the long-term as geo-political flash points or natural disasters could lead to sharp increases in rates. Unless businesses invest in efficiency now they’re not going to be able to react fast enough to counter the cost of an increase should an event occur or prices quickly rebound.

 

 

Source: Market Insider Even at today’s rates most mainstream energy conservation measures (ECMs) fall at, or under, the industry benchmark of a 3-year Simple Payback Period, or ~33% ROI.  Despite the bull market running wild, it can be difficult to find a relatively risk free investment that will yield a consistent 33% return. Therefore, the smart money will point toward investing in efficiency projects now in favorable capital markets. Aside from some newly minted Bitcoin millionaires, my bet is that most “Main Street Americans” would rest easy at night knowing their investment will yield a consistent return north of 30%. There’s likely not one silver bullet technology that will drastically improve operational efficiencies, however there are many proven low risk investments such as LED lighting, HVAC upgrades, Building Management Systems, and smart building controls that can have an impact on many areas of your operations. This multi-faceted approach to energy efficiency will build a more robust infrastructure and predictable energy usage profile for business operator for when the economy eventually pulls back and rates increase. I’m not an economist, investment banker, trader, or tax analyst, but I do manage a global business and believe in growth reinvestment balanced with the protection of downside risk.  So, if you’re a building owner, asset manager, facility manager or responsible for the financial performance of your business; I urge you to mitigate your future operations cost risk and invest in efficiency today.