RESTAURANTS
RESTAURANT TECH COMPANIES WANT TO MAKE IT EASIER TO BE SUSTAINABLE
When it comes to sustainability in the restaurant industry, simplicity and an emphasis on the bottom line remain key.
REYNA ESTRADA, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, RESTAURANT BUSINESS
S ince installing an HVAC unit powered by heat pump technology at one of his Dunkin’ units in San Anto - nio, Sean-Paul Ferrera be- gan saving approximately $1,000 a month on his utility bill. The new HVAC, which was installed in April 2023, also helped Ferrera de- crease energy use at that Dunkin’ by 60%. And that location isn’t Ferrera’s only one to cut down its energy con- sumption of late. Ferrera owns six Dunkin’ units in Texas, and over the past three years, utility costs for five of his stores have been reduced by at least 10%. This cost savings is, in part, thanks to Dunkin’s partnership with Budderfly, an energy efficiency technology com - pany. The companies’ partnership be - gan three years ago, and is currently in a pilot phase. As a part of the collaboration, Bud- derfly now manages the energy infra - structure in Ferrera’s Dunkin’ units, monitoring energy use and upgrading various systems, including HVAC. The company's services have saved five of Ferrera's stores a total of 576 mega- watt hours of electricity, according to Budderfly, which said that equates to 408 megatons of carbon emissions.
ing used.” From there, the company then de- termines where to make changes. “They came in, after an initial sur - vey, they determined where they were gonna see the greatest net benefit from an energy savings standpoint, so they re-lamped stores, they re-lamped my parking lots in some cases,” Fer - rera said. “They put individual energy monitoring on every circuit inside of my restaurants to better understand how we, as Dunkin’, are using energy, how each [piece of equipment] is us - ing energy.” Budderfly’s services come with no upfront costs. Instead, the tech com - pany invests in the facility’s energy infrastructure and makes its money
Sustainable technology compa- nies like Budderfly are leveraging their skills to make it easier for restaurants to be environmentally conscious. Here’s a look at how they’re doing it. BUDDERFLY’S HOLISTIC VIEW Budderfly takes a wide-ranging ap - proach to energy reduction, consider- ing environmental impact and analyz- ing the refrigeration units, lighting and insulation. “You can't manage what you can't measure,” said Al Subbloie, CEO of Budderfly. “So, we will submeter each facility, which gives us a good break- down of where energy is actually be-
“They put individual energy monitoring on every circuit inside of my restaurants to better understand how we, as Dunkin’, are using energy, how each [piece of equipment] is using energy.”
—SEAN-PAUL FERRERA, DUNKIN' FRANCHISEE
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SUSTAINABILITY OUTLOOK 2025
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