News

May 19, 2009

Nearly 500 Show Attendees Sign Up for NRA/EPA Energy Star Challenge

Nearly 500 NRA Show attendees signed up during the May 16-19 NRA Show to take the Conserve/EPA ENERGY STAR Challenge, a new program designed to help restaurateurs, suppliers and distributors cut their energy and water costs.

The participants are challenged to roll back their consumption of water, electricity and gas by taking such simple steps as turning off lights that arent needed, powering down equipment when its not in use, or asking patrons if they want water instead of automatically bringing it to the table. A checklist of easy water- and energy-conserving steps is provided under the program, which is a partnership of the National Restaurant Associations Conserve initiative and the Environmental Protection Agency.

A recommended early step of the Challenge is benchmarking a restaurants energy and water consumption. Participants are invited to download a tracking software program called Portfolio Manager, which is provided free of charge by ENERGY STAR, the EPAs conservation joint venture with the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Unless you know what youre doing [in your energy use], you have no idea how to fix it, explained Jeffrey Clark of ICF International, a consultancy affiliated with ENERGY STAR. Skipping the baselining step would be like embarking on a weight-loss program without checking the scale to see where youre starting, he said.

The benchmarking might also provide some pleasant surprises, Clark added. There have been a number of instances reported to the EPA of restaurants discovering that theyve been overcharged but didnt realize it until they looked.

ENERGY STAR official Anna Stark said the benchmarking process would also allow the restaurant industry as a whole to show how much energy and water it used and how much it lowered those consumption figures through the Challenge. That demonstration of the industry's proactive conservation efforts could help ensure customers, staff, and lawmakers that restaurants are commited to preserving our natural resources, Stark told attendees.

We hope that our Conserve/EPA Challenge campaign will motivate those within our industry to continue their journey toward a more sustainable future, said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the NRA.

The associations Conserve: Solutions for Sustainability initiative provides online resources for restaurateurs looking to cut their costs by conserving water, energy or landfill space.