Green building practices feted at SPECS conference for planning execs

DALLAS —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

“The building industry is looking harder at store planning and design to reduce initial and maintenance costs as well as enhance their images as environmentally conscious,” Michael Oshman, executive director of the Green Restaurant Association, told participants at the 44th annual Store Planning, Equipment, Construction Services seminar, or SPECS, hosted here recently by Chain Store Age magazine, a sister publication of Nation’s Restaurant News. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

More than 700 executives at the conference were brought up to date on the latest in building materials from environmentally sustainable sources and were briefed on such trends as the use of light-emitting-diode, or LED, bulbs for signage and the recycling of cooking fats and oils into biodiesel fuels. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

Large restaurant chains have the financial power to make such environmental changes, Oshman said, even if they do so incrementally. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

“They can change the whole dialogue,” he said. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

Among SPECS attendees, talk often centered on the growing use of energy-efficient LED lighting, both inside buildings and for exterior signage. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

Light-emitting diodes are replacing electrical-filament or gas-fluorescent lights in many new restaurants and remodeled buildings, and many companies are employing compact-fluorescent bulbs. Such changes can save operators more than 5 percent of their energy expenditures each year, Oshman said. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

The selection of specific bulb types has grown very broad in lighting, making energy-saving alternatives “a viable option,” he added. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

But not all the economically prudent and environmentally beneficial changes in restaurants have to do with lighting. Oshman pointed out that a recent project in which he was involved replaced water sprayer valves in a kitchen. A single, $70 spray valve is expected to reap even larger savings than the updating of lighting for that project, he said. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

The spray valve will provide “a larger environmental payback,” Oshman said. “What you are looking at is not how much money you are spending or how glamorous are the changes.” —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

An added benefit, he said, is pride among employees and customers, who are becoming more concerned about the environment. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

“Provide containers for recycling; make it easier for them to do the right thing,” Oshman urged. “If you do that from a design perspective and a signage perspective…consumers will adjust to make the changes.” —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

In addition, he said, “some employees are actually reporting higher satisfaction in their jobs” as a result of employers’ environmental initiatives. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

Wayne Jones, director of facilities management for the Buca di Beppo restaurant chain, moderated a panel on design and ventilation for foodservice at which Brian Rivet, an engineer with Greenheck Fan Corp. of Schofield, Wis., explained data showing that griddle cooking puts a substantially lower level of grease particulates into the air than does grilling. Compared with grilling, griddle cooking also requires less extensive filtering and can lessen the risk of damage to equipment and deterioration to roofs. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

Switches to such cooking equipment options can help operators’ bottom lines by lowering utility and maintenance bills, Oshman said. —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.

“There are compelling reasons that not only [are energy efficiency and pollution reduction] the right thing to do and [make] good business sense,” he said, “but that the more-expensive thing is to maintain the status quo.” —With economic factors exerting a growing squeeze on profits as environmentalism grows, construction and design executives in the retail and foodservice industries will need to adopt more energy-efficient and Earth-friendly fixtures and materials, experts told a major conference of store-planning executives.