Facts & Stats

Energy Use in Restaurants

Restaurants use five times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings and five times more energy in the kitchen than in the rest of the building.

Energy Costs as a Share of Budget

Energy costs represent 30 percent of a typical building's annual budget.

Energy Cost Increases

Energy costs have been increasing at a rate of 6 percent to 8 percent per year.

ENERGY STAR Buildings

Buildings carrying the ENERGY STAR label consume about 40 percent less energy than typical buildings.

Energy Tax Deductions

A federal tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot is available to owners or designers of new or existing commercial buildings that save at least 50 percent of the heating and cooling energy of a building that meets ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. Partial federal tax deductions of up to $.60 per square foot are available for "green" measures affecting any one of three building systems: the building envelope, lighting or heating and cooling systems.

Water Supply

If all the earth's water fit into a gallon bottle, the fresh water available for human use would equal just over one tablespoon.

Running Faucets

Running a water faucet for five minutes uses nearly as much energy as running a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours.

Low-Flush Toilets

A standard toilet uses as much as 4.5 gallons per flush. Low-flush toilets use around 1.6 gallons per flush.

Leaky Faucets

A leaky faucet dripping one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water a year. A leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water a day.

Restaurateurs & Water Conservation

Nearly three in 10 quickservice-restaurant operators and about four in 10 fullservice-restaurant operators installed water-saving ware-washers and toilet fixtures in the last two years.