Tag: kitchen ventilation

Noise! Noise! Noise! Reduce The Noise!

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

The Holidays are upon us, with all the excitement and the parties. As the Grinch says, “And Then! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! There’s one thing I hate! All the NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!”

Now, I am no Grinch about the holidays, but prior to my tenure here at Melink I worked for nearly 10 years as an Environmental Health and Safety Manager within a large chemical facility, and there were various work areas which exceeded noise thresholds requiring hearing protection. It was LOUD. This is where I became cognoscente of NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) standards for hearing conservation,

NIOSH states continued exposure to noise above 85 dBA (adjusted decibels) over time will cause hearing loss. The volume (dBA) and the length of exposure to the sound will tell you how harmful the noise is. In general, the louder the noise, the less time required before hearing loss will occur. According to the NIOSH, the maximum exposure time at 85 dBA is eight hours.

Although we may not be able to control the noise of the holiday party or the loud toys the children will receive on Christmas day, perhaps within the working environments of commercial kitchens we can make drastic improvements and reduce the overall noise level.

Studies have been conducted over the years and dependent on many variables such as the size of the kitchen spaces, the duration of peak activity, and other various factors the overall noise level at times approach or exceed the 85dBA level, sources show a typical restaurant operates at 80 dB, although this value does not trigger hearing protection, some restaurants are known to reach 110 dB at times which is the noise level of a jackhammer! Think of the last time you were at your favorite restaurant and seated near the kitchen entrance versus the opposite side of the room.

Demand control kitchen ventilation can help not just provide energy savings but also reduce the noise levels drastically, especially over an 8-hour timeframe for employees in the kitchen spaces. When researching kitchen exhaust fans one will find that the noise levels are reported as a “sone” which depending on the static pressure of the design the noise levels can vary. A sone is a unit of loudness, how loud a sound is perceived. Doubling the perceived loudness doubles the sone value. Within fan specs of kitchen exhaust fans manufacturers indicate the “Sones” level for example a 5hp kitchen exhaust fan has a sone level ranging from 16.5 to 26 sones dependent on duct design. Per the decibel level and sones conversion chart this is equivalent to around 68.3 to 74.9 dB!

Now considering utilizing a temperature and optic based demand control kitchen ventilation, such as Intelli-Hood, can reduce fan speeds by 30-45% average fan speed over a 24hr period consider the reduction of noise exposure this provides. It is not uncommon for customers post installation of a Melink Intelli-Hood system to recognize significant noise reduction, many times commenting that during food prep hours, although the fans are “turned on” they operate at a minimum speed and it sounds like they are not even operating!

Perhaps you are in a position of influence of the decision to retrofit Demand Control Kitchen Ventilation, or perhaps evaluating and analyzing the opportunity for a client. Remember that there is more savings than simply energy that can be considered when evaluating demand control kitchen ventilation.

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.

 

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.

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.

Intelli-Hood Restaurant Retrofit Case Study

Posted on by Lindsey Burbee

CONTEXT

A popular national restaurant chain, which also is a leader in sustainability, adopted Melink’s patented Intelli­-Hood® HVAC controls package as an energy conservation measure. The company’s goal was to achieve a 60 percent reduction in exhaust fan energy across its 80 properties. Following is an excerpt from its 2016 Corporate Sustainability Report:

“We tested an innovative demand ventilation system at our restaurant in Pleasanton, CA, which automatically adjusts the exhaust and make up air fan speed by measuring the temperature, steam and smoke in the hood. By having the fan speed ramp up or down as needed, the amount of energy used compared to standard fans is significantly reduced by as high as 60 percent. We are now in the process of rolling out the system to approximately 120 locations, potentially reducing our energy use by as much as 63,000 kWh’s per location.”

RESULTS

Savings across the restaurant company’s portfolio have been impressive and exceeded expectations. Not only has the company enjoyed increased operating profit as a result of the 65 percent reduction in energy usage, but its utility bill has dropped by $702,240 annually since 2015.

Energy savings graphic

 

Below is a sample graph of the varying exhaust fan speed for one day at one location:

demand controlled ventilation

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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