In 2014, a major fast food chain rolled out a rooftop replacement program across 56 stores nationwide.
The purpose of the program was to replace older, less efficient equipment with newer, energy-efficient units. Further, the restaurant company sought to obtain a holistic view of the building pressure/balance, health of equipment, and comfort of their stores for employees and customers.
Melink T&B was hired to verify proper installation, startup, and balance of the newly installed HVAC equipment across all stores. Additionally, Melink checked the old equipment for proper operation to provide a report on the health and comfort of their stores. The work was requested to be completed in four weeks during the Thanksgiving season. The project required collaboration between Melink and the restaurant owner, the rooftop unit manufacturers, and the installing contractor.
Results
Without scheduling hiccups and with very few site-readiness issues, all 56 restaurant locations were balanced for efficiency and comfort. The restaurant company’s management was provided with helpful reports on the condition of their new and existing HVAC equipment for each store.
The biggest challenge involved was in the schedule coordination between vendors to perform a high volume of work in a short period of time. However, each group rose to the occasion with excellent communication and professionalism to ensure comfort and efficiency for the restaurants and their guests.
Can we help your business?
Melink offers a range of testing, balancing, adjusting, and commissioning services. Contact us to learn more.
Case Study: Retail Stores
Context
A national retail chain hired Melink to perform test and balance services, as well as commissioning, for 46 locations.
Project goals included
Providing detailed reports to identify and resolve deficiencies
Assisting with decisions regarding equipment replacement
Adjusting systems to promote energy efficiency
Creating healthy and comfortable facilities with balanced indoor air quality for employees and guests
Results
Across the 46 locations, a total of 609 deficiencies were identified by Melink’s certified test and balance technicians. This is an average of 13 deficiencies per location.
Areas of Site Deficiencies
Melink successfully performed all visits within the customer’s requested timeline. Additionally, test and balance services were performed at three different prototypical location types, ranging in size and complexity.
Case Study: Test & Balance
Context
A quick-service restaurant hired Melink to perform a test and balance inspection to assess its HVAC system and investigate comfort issues. The restaurant was designed with multiple rooftop units (RTU) and exhaust fans.
Results
The following discrepancies were found during the inspection:
RTU-1 designed for 17.5 tons but a 20 ton unit had been installed
Number of air devices for RTU-3 does not match the design plans
2 exhaust fans installed on wrong curbs
Missing back-draft dampers on exhaust fans
EF-1 not operating
RTUs cycling on and off without call from thermostats
Loose flex duct causing air leakage above the ceiling
Poorly installed dampers that rattled and squeaked
While the contractor repaired these items, the Melink technician measured airflow and adjusted fan speeds and dampers to achieve optimal comfort and energy efficiency. Ultimately, the speed of six exhaust fans was able to be reduced to save conditioned air, energy, and money.
The following discrepancies were found during the inspection:
RTU-1 designed for 17.5 tons but a 20 ton unit had been installed
Number of air devices for RTU-3 does not match the design plans
2 exhaust fans installed on wrong curbs
Missing back-draft dampers on exhaust fans
EF-1 not operating
RTUs cycling on and off without call from thermostats
Loose flex duct causing air leakage above the ceiling
Poorly installed dampers that rattled and squeaked
While the contractor repaired these items, the Melink technician measured airflow and adjusted fan speeds and dampers to achieve optimal comfort and energy efficiency. Ultimately, the speed of six exhaust fans was able to be reduced to save conditioned air, energy, and money.
Upon arrival, the Melink technician met with the general contractor and mechanical contractor, reviewed the site’s design plans, and checked the equipment.
Results
The following discrepancies were found during the inspection:
RTU-1 designed for 17.5 tons but a 20 ton unit had been installed
Number of air devices for RTU-3 does not match the design plans
2 exhaust fans installed on wrong curbs
Missing back-draft dampers on exhaust fans
EF-1 not operating
RTUs cycling on and off without call from thermostats
Loose flex duct causing air leakage above the ceiling
Poorly installed dampers that rattled and squeaked
While the contractor repaired these items, the Melink technician measured airflow and adjusted fan speeds and dampers to achieve optimal comfort and energy efficiency. Ultimately, the speed of six exhaust fans was able to be reduced to save conditioned air, energy, and money.
Upon arrival, the Melink technician met with the general contractor and mechanical contractor, reviewed the site’s design plans, and checked the equipment.
Results
The following discrepancies were found during the inspection:
RTU-1 designed for 17.5 tons but a 20 ton unit had been installed
Number of air devices for RTU-3 does not match the design plans
2 exhaust fans installed on wrong curbs
Missing back-draft dampers on exhaust fans
EF-1 not operating
RTUs cycling on and off without call from thermostats
Loose flex duct causing air leakage above the ceiling
Poorly installed dampers that rattled and squeaked
While the contractor repaired these items, the Melink technician measured airflow and adjusted fan speeds and dampers to achieve optimal comfort and energy efficiency. Ultimately, the speed of six exhaust fans was able to be reduced to save conditioned air, energy, and money.
Paradise City is a resort located in Incheon, South Korea. The resort combines multi-purpose hospitality facilities including a hotel, casino, and convention center. Throughout the property, there are kitchens in nearly every facility, including the hotel, casino, spa, and bars.
Context
Recently, the resort conducted energy audits across its kitchens to identify areas of improvement. One of the top priorities was to address the kitchen ventilation system, which consisted of 14 kitchens with hoods running at an average of 17.3 hours per day. To help control operating costs, they decided to implement a demand control kitchen ventilation system to self-modulate each kitchen, according to the cooking conditions.
Result
With the implementation of Intelli-Hood® into all the kitchen hoods across the property, Paradise City was able to reduce its fan speed from 100% all the time to an average of 66%, resulting in a savings of $295,968 in the first year. The system will pay for itself in about two years. With this improvement, they were not only able reduce their immediate energy consumption, but they are able to use the Intelli-Hood® technology to continually monitor their usage and adjust as necessary.
Download the full case study or contact us today to learn more about Intelli-Hood® and the benefit of kitchen hood controls.
Intelli-Hood® Children’s Hospital Case Study
Content
Sustainability and energy efficiency are increasingly becoming hotter topics in healthcare. Like many major hospitals working towards environmental stewardship and higher Energy Star ratings, a large children’s hospital in central Ohio decided to make a conscious effort to develop their own sustainability goals and pursue a greener facility. In 2015, the hospital partnered with Go Sustainable Energy to do an energy audit of their facility and identify areas of improvement. Through the audit, they found an impactful area of savings was in the kitchen.
Result
Collaborating with Go Sustainable Energy and Melink Corp., the hospital was able to maximize their initial savings using AEP’s utility rebates and a dollar-for-dollar match from the state hospital association, which ultimately paid for almost 90% of their system. Go Sustainable Energy has served as the hospital’s advocate and manager of their post installation data. After the installation, they reported the following:
The proposal and installation process were simple and easy.
The controls were affordable and approved quickly in their CapEx budget.
The payback period was extremely quick, and they are happy with their return.
**Project information and data provided by Neil Wittberg of Go Sustainable Energy.
University Dining Hall Case Study
Context
Like many colleges and universities, the University of California, Berkeley has bold goals toward sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental stewardship. The university encourages green purchasing and installing energy-efficient technologies whenever possible, ranging in everything from their meal ingredients to their building supplies. As a model for future buildings, the design team for Crossroads was tasked with finding all products and technologies that would make this the greenest building on campus. When it came to the kitchen, the team decided to install a demand control kitchen ventilation system that could modulate based on the cooking environment.
Why kitchen controls?
According to the EIA, commercial food service uses more energy per square foot than any other industry and within that, 22% of all energy consumption can be attributed to the kitchen HVAC alone!
Result
The Crossroads dining hall became the first building on campus to achieve a green certification and since, the school has expanded to 15 certified buildings ranging from basic certification to Gold standard. The implementation of Intelli-Hood® kitchen controls helped the University of California cut the fan speed almost in half with an average speed of 55%. This left the school with a total savings of $67,477 in energy and utility costs in the first year alone!
Intelli-Hood® Corporate Kitchen Case Study
Context
Like many companies based in Silicon Valley, this search engine giant has always had goals toward sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental stewardship. As their technology and building footprint spans the globe, they have been diligent to make sure their operational impact is minimized. Their initial goals were focused on achieving carbon neutrality and the first place they started was in the pursuit of aggressive energy-efficiency initiatives. Specified by their in-house facility design team, Melink has installed Intelli-Hood controls in 51 locations, both retro-fits and new construction installations.
Why kitchen controls though?
According to the EIA, commercial foodservice uses more energy per square foot than any other industry and within that, 22% of all energy consumption can be attributed to the kitchen HVAC alone!
Result
Since first committing to becoming carbon neutral, this company has successfully achieved that goal every year. Their first step in this fight against GHG emissions comes in utilizing the most energy efficient technologies available with the last resort being key projects to offset their total carbon use. The data in this study is from the first 13 installations of Intelli-Hood®. Across the 13 kitchen facilities, the kitchen exhaust system realized an average energy savings of 78%, which results in $248,379 in utility savings a year. Along with financial returns, Intelli-Hood® also reduces over 1.7 million lbs of CO2 annually, carbon they no longer need to account for when devising carbon offsetting projects.
Corporate Dining Intelli-Hood® Case Study
CONTEXT
The goal for the new R&D Center was to make a state-of-the art building that was also energy efficient. The current energy incentives made the decision even easier, knowing they would save money on the installation as well as through the life of the product. The goal for the kitchen build was simple; keep a clean aesthetic using the latest technology to improve efficiency and reduce overall costs.
RESULTS
The results and savings exceeded all expectations. With the use of the energy incentives and the efficiency of the upgraded system, they made a 118% return on their investment before the end of the first year. Additionally, the new system was able to reduce fan speed over 60% on average, saving almost $45,000!
SITE INFORMATION
Total Motor Power: 35 HP
Daily Operating Hours: 19
Days Per Week: 7
Weeks Per Year: 52
Cost Per Kilowatt Hour: $.09
BELOW IS A SAMPLE GRAPH OF THE VARYING EXHAUST FAN SPEED FOR ONE DAY AT THE RESORT:
Could Intelli-Hood® be a fit for my project?
Are you curious how much energy Intelli-Hood® could save within your commercial or industrial kitchens? Submit an energy savings estimate request form at the bottom of our Intelli-Hood® page to get started.
Barcelona-Sants Hotel Case Study
CONTEXT
AS A PART OF A KITCHEN RENOVATION PROJECT, INTELLI-HOOD® DEMAND CONTROL KITCHEN VENTILATION WAS INSTALLED IN MARCH OF 2017 TO SAVE ENERGY AND REDUCE OPERATIONAL COSTS. THE HOTEL WAS ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED IN 1992. THE FOLLOWING ARE OPERATING CONDITIONS OF THE SITE:
• TOTAL MOTOR POWER: 17.5 HORSEPOWER
• DAILY OPERATING HOURS: 20
• DAYS PER WEEK: 7
• WEEKS PER YEAR: 52
• COST PER KILOWATT HOUR: .11 €
RESULTS
The system is performing optimally and is projected to deliver return on investment in under a year.
Below is a sample graph of the varying exhaust fan speed for one day at the hotel:
Could Intelli-Hood® be a fit for my project?
Are you curious how much energy Intelli-Hood® could save within your commercial or industrial kitchens? Submit an energy savings estimate request form at the bottom of our Intelli-Hood® page to get started.
Pala Casino Spa & Resort Case Study
CONTEXT
Pala Casino Spa & Resort has always been cognizant of their environmental footprint and the impact they make on the surrounding community. Continually looking for ways to improve, they recently conducted energy audits across the property to identify areas of improvement and develop an optimization plan. One of the top priorities was to address their kitchen ventilation system which consisted of 10 kitchens with hoods running at 100% a majority of the day. With Trane as their partner in this project, they decided to implement Melink Intelli-Hood® so their hoods would self-modulate as necessary according to the cooking conditions.
RESULTS
Pala Casino Spa & Resort was able to reduce their fan speed about 35%, resulting in a savings of $139,713 in the first year alone. Their return on investment also exceeded expectations, by returning their initial investment in under 2 years. With this improvement they were not only able reduce their immediate energy consumption, but they are able to use the Intelli-Hood® technology to continually monitor their usage, and their kitchens became much quieter and more comfortable as well!
BELOW IS A SAMPLE GRAPH OF THE VARYING EXHAUST FAN SPEED FOR ONE DAY AT THE RESORT:
Could Intelli-Hood® be a fit for my project?
Are you curious how much energy Intelli-Hood® could save within your commercial or industrial kitchens? Submit an energy savings estimate request form at the bottom of our Intelli-Hood® page to get started.
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