Wendy's Franchisee Saves with Energy Management System
The automated process turns lights, equipment and air conditioning on and off at appropriate intervals.
By David Farkas, Senior Editor -- Chain Leader, 3/3/2009 9:25:00 AM
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| An automated energy-management system now controls air conditioning, lighting and electrical output at seven of Emerald Foods' 34 franchised Wendy's units. |
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Yet ask him if it has made life a little easier.
"Yes. It has," declares the director of maintenance for Emerald Foods, a Houston-based Wendy's franchise that operates 44 restaurants. Key, who has overseen the installation of the system in seven units in Dallas/Forth Worth, no longer worries about employees setting air-conditioning thermostats at 50 degrees or store managers running late and turning on all the lights and equipment at the same time. Today, the energy management system does all that for him, automatically.
And more, he adds. For instance, if employees prop the walk-in door open for longer than 10 minutes during morning prep, the store receives a phone call from the energy management system vendor. The caller reminds the restaurant to close the walk-in door.
"They monitor door openings," Key explains. "That keeps our critical product [fresh hamburger] a little safer."
Cost Cutting
The new system has trimmed gas and electric bills. Emerald Foods Chairman Don Feinstein says that was the "whole purpose" of buying the system in the first place. "We took the average of our energy bills prior to putting in the system against the savings as [the vendor] computed it," he explains. "Then we reconciled the savings in energy cost by using their system." He describes the savings as "very good."
Neither Feinstein nor Key could offer a dollar amount, but Feinstein says the company is negotiating a new contract that will lead to the installation of energy management systems in the company's 34 Houston restaurants.
Key, who has worked in the Wendy's system for 30 years, says the process has gone smoothly so far. Asked to dispense advice on overseeing such a project, he says, "Upfront you want to know what they are intending to do and how. In the restaurant environment, any wiring that's run outside the wall is an obstacle for the crew to clean around."
That issue is small potatoes given the advantage of automated monitoring. Key recalls that it wasn't hard for workers to figure out how to circumvent air-conditioning settings. If the kitchen got hot, they'd attempt to bring the temperature down quickly, which gobbled up considerable energy in the process.
"They may have been working hard that morning and it's a little hot and there might be a problem in the system itself," he explains. Trouble was, it could take hours before Key knew about it.
Today, Key says, an alarm goes off in the unit alerting employees of a temperature malfunction.
Plusses and Minuses
Key also no longer worries about lost sales because a rushed manager forgets to flip on the signage lighting. Today, the energy management system turns on air conditioning, equipment and lighting, all in the order things are needed, in all seven units.
No system is perfect, of course. Key takes issue with new speed controls on the oven hoods' exhaust fans, which he says produces too much smoke. "[The vendor] did take the initiative and adjusted the fans' air flow and is monitoring it more closely. They think they have a handle on it," he says.
Yet he isn't quite sure because, ironically, the extra time he now has is devoted to other non-energy-related business. Sighs Key: "I would like to sit down and evaluate what they are doing."
MORE: Wendy's isn't alone in the energy management game. CKE Restaurants is trimming consumption with its new "green" unit.
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