Less power more profit for restaurants

Kingsley’s Steakhouse & Crabhouse in Woolloomooloo and Chophouse in Sydney CBD both signed up to GreenChef - an energy-efficiency program run by the Green Skills (Aust) Institute. The pilot program, funded by the NSW Government’s Energy Efficiency Training Program, was designed to see how changing behaviour and practices in restaurants would save power - and money. In just seven months, Chophouse reduced its total energy consumption by 14% and Kingsley’s was reduced by 5%.

“This represents a total saving of around $7000 per year for Chophouse and $3000 for Kingley’s,” said Ben Pearson, Green Chef program manager.

Wes Lambert, Director of the Pacific Restaurant Group, which owns both establishments, said he was keen to see whether improved awareness and changes in behaviour affected energy use.

“We were very eager to be part of this project from the outset,” said Lambert. “The restaurant business is tough - restaurants use a lot of energy and tend to operate on slim margins.”

An audit of the restaurants was undertaken before the training commenced, which involved undertaking an on-site inspection, talking to key staff and looking at the restaurant gas and electricity bills, Pearson said.

Fourteen front-of-house and kitchen staff were trained from both restaurants in a range of strategies to reduce energy consumption, mainly focusing on behavioural and operational change and equipment management and maintenance.

“Most of the changes we made were at an operational level, our investment was minimal,” said Lambert. “Simple things like implementation of start up and shutdown schedules for lighting and large cooking appliances made a big difference. We also looked at replacing worn seals on ovens and refrigerators, as well as installing plastic curtains on freezers.”

Pearson said GreenChef was a great opportunity for restaurant owners to save money and make a contribution to the greening of the restaurant industry.

GreenChef will be running a number of free workshops throughout Sydney in August. For more details, go to www.greenskilled.com.au.