News

May 8, 2009

College’s New Kitchen Consultants: Green-minded Students

A group of students at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., are working with the school’s foodservice manager to roll in a new generation of energy-efficient kitchen equipment.

The retrofit, coupled with what the conservation team calls “promoting a conservation mindset,” is intend to cut energy use by 30 percent and reduce the kitchen’s “carbon footprint” by 26 percent.

The conservation efforts will slash the college’s energy bills by $140,000 per year, according to Sodexo, the contracted manager of the school’s foodservice operations. The switch to more energy-efficient equipment will require an investment of about $215,000, the company says, but the outlay should be recovered in 19 months.

“This partnership demonstrates fiscal and environmental responsibility and above all, the change engine is being driven by our students,” Ithaca College president Tom Rochon said in a statement. “We discovered a substantial way to cut our utility bills and to help the plant at the same time.”

Sodexo, which provides contract management services to 600 college campuses throughout the United States, said the collaboration with the group of Ithaca students is a first of its kind. The parties began their joint effort in January with a two-week assessment of how much energy is used by each piece of kitchen equipment. That information was distilled into a benchmark for the dining service’s energy consumption and carbon output.

The exercise revealed that the foodservice facilities consume five times the energy burned by classrooms and administrative offices.

Next, the team focused on ratcheting back that consumption. Among the steps it recommended, in addition to upgrading equipment, was installing light sensors, making foodservice employees more aware of potential waste, and switching to more efficient exhaust fans.

Sodexo says the Ithaca program is part of its company-wide effort to help customers operate in a greener fashion.