"what's cooking: commercial kitchen savings"watersense webinar transcript slide 1: cover slide laura wetzel, erg: hello, everyone, and welcometo the epa watersense program's "what's cooking: commercial kitchen savings" webinar. thiswebinar is being put on as part of the hotel challenge training series. i'm laura wetzela supporting contractor to epa's watersense program and i will be moderating today's presentation. slide 2: presenters laura wetzel, erg: before we get started,i'd like to introduce you to the three presenters you'll be hearing from today. hosting thiswebinar is tara o'hare with epa's watersense
program. tara currently serves as the implementationand commercial outreach lead for watersense. she is responsible for program operations,partner support, and outreach to commercial and institutional facilities. tara is currentlymanaging the hotel challenge and she was responsible for the release of watersense at work: bestmanagement practices for commercial and institutional facilities, which you'll be hearing more aboutduring this presentation. our second speaker will be kim wagoner witherg, a licensed professional engineer, and also supporting contractor to watersense.kim assists epa in developing product specifications for the watersense program and she providestechnical support for watersense's efforts in the commercial and institutional sectors.she also conducts water assessments for federal
facilities to identify and assess water savingsopportunities for those buildings. finally, we'll wrap up the presentation withan informative case study on commercial kitchen water savings measures that were implementedat several dining halls at loyola marymount university, presented by ray dennis. ray currentlyserves as associate vice president of auxiliary management and business services for loyolamarymount university. he has an mba from pepperdine university, master of arts in theology fromloyola marymount university, and is a certified auxiliary service professional by the nationalassociation of college auxiliary services. he now oversees the dining, textbooks, printing,mail services, and campus card office services. and these business services must demonstrateleadership in sustainable practices and environmental
stewardship to reflect the university's missionand demonstrate social responsibility to its faculty, staff, and students. slide 3: housekeeping laura wetzel, erg: let's quickly review afew housekeeping items before we begin. all attendees have been muted just to minimizebackground noise, but of course, we do want to answer your questions, so if you do havea question during the presentation, please type it into the chat box on the upper righthand side of your screen. we'll have a dedicated time for q&a at appropriate breaks throughoutthe presentation. lastly, we are recording this webinar for future viewing. you'll receivean email once we post it to the watersense
website and when you do, please feel freeto share the recording with any colleagues or business contacts that you think may benefitfrom it. now i'd like to invite tara o'hare to review the agenda for today and start usoff with an introduction to watersense and the h2otel challenge. tara? slide 4: agenda tara o'hare, epa: thank you for those introductions,laura, and welcome to all of you joining us today! as laura mentioned, i'll start by providinga brief overview of the watersense program, the intent of the h2otel challenge, and somerationale for why you may want to save water at your hotel. then, i'll ask kim wagonerto discuss some of the key strategies and
water efficiency best management practices(bmps) for reducing water use in any commercial kitchen you may have as part of your hotel.finally, ray dennis will present a case study about loyola marymount's water efficiencyefforts and success in reducing commercial kitchen water use at a major dining hall oncampus. at the end of the webinar, i'll review what we learned, talk about our upcoming trainings,and give you some quick tips to get started on reducing commercial kitchen water use inyour hotel. slide 5: what is watersense? tara o'hare, epa: for those of you new tothese calls and may not be familiar with watersense, let me give you a brief summary. watersenseis a voluntary program started by epa in 2006.
we work with a variety of partners to promotewater efficiency and encourage innovation in manufacturing. our goal is to help organizationsand consumers save water for future generations. the watersense label, which is displayed hereon this slide, provides a simple way for consumers to identify water efficient products, homes,and programs. more than 11,000 different models of plumbing fixtures and irrigation productshave earned the watersense label to date. products receiving the label have been independentlycertified for water efficiency and performance. slide 6: watersense focus: 3 ps tara o'hare, epa: in addition to labelingproducts, homes, and professional certification programs, we try to approach water efficiencyfrom many angles. we've developed best management
practices to help commercial and institutionalfacilities design, operate, and maintain their buildings and landscapes as efficiently aspossible. watersense at work(our best management practices guide for commercial facilities(isthe focus of this training series. watersense also works with partners to educate consumersand users so they can reduce water use through their actions and behaviors. this connectionto behavior change is vital to the success of the watersense program, since many reductionscan be achieved during the use phase of a product or system. slide 7: watersense labeled products tara o'hare, epa: this slide shows all ofthe residential and commercial products eligible
for a watersense label. the label is generallyreserved for products that use at least 20 percent less water and perform as well orbetter than standard models. since the program was launched in 2006, watersense labeled productshave helped consumers save more than 757 billion gallons of water and $14.2 billion in waterand energy costs. we also work closely with energy star to include water factors in itsspecifications and to include energy savings in ours.slide 8: best management practices tara o'hare, epa: as i mentioned earlier,to help commercial and institutional facilities understand, manage, and reduce their wateruse, we developed watersense at work. this guidebook includes best management practicesin many different areas, including water management
planning, water use monitoring and education,sanitary fixtures and equipment, commercial kitchen equipment, outdoor water use, mechanicalsystems, laboratory and medical equipment, and onsite alternative sources of water. productand equipment specific chapters in each of those main water use areas cover water efficientoperation and maintenance, retrofit, and replacement recommendations. watersense at work also includesideas for enhancing education and outreach in commercial and institutional facilitiesto promote water savings. slide 9: the watersense h2otel challenge tara o'hare, epa: as most of you know, watersenselaunched the h2otel challenge earlier this year to encourage and assist hotels in savingwater. we currently have 767 hotels from all
over the country that have taken the pledge.as part of the challenge, watersense is providing participants with the tools to act, whichwe talk about as: assessing water use and savings opportunities; changing products andprocesses to incorporate bmps; and tracking water savings. once your hotel takes the pledgeon the watersense website, you'll receive emails that include several items to promoteyour participation, including a participant logo, a signed certificate of participation,and sample language to use in your in room binders, websites, and guest service television.every hotel that takes the pledge will also receive monthly water saving tips and remindersabout watersense webinars. the training webinar series, which includes this one today, reviewswater conservation practices that are applicable
to hotels, and each training will featurea case study showcasing how specific measures can be successfully implemented. watersenserecently released our water use and savings evaluation tool the wateruse tool as we callit which can be used to help hotel managers and facilities personnel identify, evaluate,and prioritize their water saving projects. the wateruse tool and its associated waterassessment worksheets and other technical tools are available on our website. slide 10: why save water in hotels? tara o'hare, epa: those of you who are onthis call probably don't need convincing to save water, but let's quickly review a fewof the main benefits. first and foremost,
saving water can help reduce operating costs.water and sewer costs are rising well above inflation with no signs of slowing down. inaddition, saving water can save the energy used to heat water, and saving water and energycan help improve equipment efficiency, which often reduces maintenance costs and man hoursrequired for repair. while reducing your bottom line, saving water can also increase yourcompetitive advantage. a recent survey by tripadvisor found that 79 percent of travelersplace importance on choosing eco friendly accommodations. you can also demonstrate leadershipin your community, for example, by participating in programs such as this h2otel challenge. slide 11: maximize savings with water andenergy together
tara o'hare, epa: it's important to look atwater and energy use and savings together when evaluating projects, since moving, treating,and heating water uses energy. for some products or systems, saving energy also results insaved water. for example, reducing the cooling load of your mechanical equipment to makeit more energy efficient will reduce the amount of make up water you need to add to your coolingtower. when evaluating potential water or energy efficiency projects, you should evaluatethe project's water and energy reduction potential, since the combined cost savings can improveyour return on investment and will make the project's savings estimates more accurate.also, water and energy utilities both often offer rebates and incentives for efficienttechnologies, so be sure to look into what
your utility provides before you get startedwith any water or energy efficiency project. slide 12: energy star in kitchens tara o'hare, epa: in addition to the toolsthat watersense has created, energy star also has developed several useful tools and resourcesto help commercial kitchen operators better manage their water use and identify ways tosave energy, water, and money. they label several types of water using commercial kitchenequipment, which we will discuss in more detail later in the presentation, and in many cases,they include a water factor or provide information on equipment water use to help inform purchasingdecisions. they have also developed a commercial kitchen equipment savings calculator, whichcan be a useful tool for estimating water
and energy savings and operating costs ofvarious types of commercial kitchen equipment. watersense has integrated the water usingequipment models from the energy star commercial kitchen equipment savings into the waterusetool, which also is a good resource for evaluating potential water efficiency projects acrossall of a hotel's potential operations, including commercial kitchens. so, i encourage you allto take a look at its website, which is listed here on the bottom of this slide, if you wantmore information about energy star's resources. slide 13: questions? laura wetzel, erg: thanks a lot for that overview,tara. so, remember that all attendees are muted to reduce background noise during thepresentation. so, if you have any questions,
please type them into the chat box at theright of your screen, and we'll address them as they are received. it looks like we don'thave any questions at this time. so, now, i'd like to ask kim wagoner to talk aboutwater saving products and practices used in kitchens. kim? slide 14: where do hotels use water? kim wagoner, erg: so, before we dive intothe specific types of equipment and operations that use water in a commercial kitchen, wewanted to start off by giving you a frame of reference for how water is typically usedwithin a hotel. as you can see on this graph, approximately 30 percent of a hotel's wateruse comes from guestroom sanitary use. the
next largest uses of water include laundry,landscape, and commercial kitchens. so, believe it or not, hotels use almost the same amountof water in the kitchen as they do in laundry operations or maintaining the outdoor landscape.so, it is certainly a water use area that is worth some attention! slide 15: water use in hotel kitchens kim wagoner, erg: there are three main typesof water uses or water using equipment in a commercial kitchen: there's food preservation,which includes ice machines; food preparation, which would include equipment such as combinationovens, steam cookers, steam kettles, and wok stoves; and cleaning and washing, which isprobably what you are most likely to think
of when you think of commercial kitchen wateruse, and this includes equipment such as pre rinse spray valves, dishwashers, food disposals,wash down sprayers, and in some kitchens, a dipper well that's used for rinsing utensils.so, over the next few slides, we will dive more deeply into each of these types of equipment,reviewing how the equipment uses water, options for reducing water use through operation andmaintenance strategies, and then, if you are considering an equipment upgrade, we're goingto present options for retrofits or replacements. slide 16: commercial ice machines kim wagoner, erg: so, first, we'll start withfood preservation and ice machines. ice machine water use depends upon several factors, notjust the amount of ice produced. one such
factor is the quality of incoming water. so,if your facility has poorer water quality, your ice machine will need to run more rinsecycles to achieve the required ice quality and clarity. in addition, and probably moreimportantly, water use is affected by how the ice making unit is cooled, whether that'sthrough the use of water or air. so, water cooled ice machines pass water through theunit once to remove the heat load and then it is discharged down the drain. an air cooledmachine circulates air to remove the heat load. so, for a frame of reference, a traditionalwater cooled ice machine uses between 100 and 300 gallons of water for every 100 poundsof ice it produces. air cooled models, on the other hand, use less than 50 gallons ofwater per 100 pounds of ice, so that's substantial
savings. however, it is important to notethat not all air cooled ice machines are equal! so, switching to air cooling will save water,but it can also be more energy intensive. so, in this case, energy star qualified modelsare a good option because they use less water and energy than standard air cooled models. slide 17: commercial ice machines: o&m kim wagoner, erg: there are some simple thingsyou can do to ensure your current ice machine is operating as efficiently as possible, whichwill reduce its overall water and energy use. first, make sure to keep the machine clean,including the coils to ensure that the heat exchange process runs efficiently and thatyou aren't wasting more ice than is necessary.
be sure to keep the lid closed and train anystaff to identify and report leaks or malfunctioning equipment. you may also want to consider workingwith the manufacturer to ensure the rinse cycles are set to the lowest frequency thatis necessary to provide the quality of ice you need. slide 18: commercial ice machines: retrofits& replacements kim wagoner, erg: if you are considering retrofittingor replacing your ice machines to reduce water use, here are some key things you might wantto consider. if your ice machine is water cooled, you can modify it to recirculate thecooling water through a cooling tower or heat exchanger rather than discharging it downthe drain. alternatively, you can consider
collecting the cooling water for reuse inanother application. if you are considering replacing your ice machine, first evaluateyour ice making needs and choose a machine that is appropriately sized. also, look forenergy star qualified models that use 15 percent less energy and 10 percent less water thanstandard air cooled models. and finally, consider the type of ice you need. typically, flakeor nugget machines use less water and energy than cubed ice machines. slide 19: combination ovens kim wagoner, erg: okay, now we're going tomove on to food preparation equipment. over the next couple of slides, we will discusssome equipment that uses water to generate
steam for cooking. the first of such equipmentwe will cover is combination ovens, or combi ovens. combi ovens combine three differentmodes of cooking into one unit: they use steam, circulated hot air, and then a combinationof the two. the amount of water a combi oven requires is determined by the steam source,and this is true for all of the cooking equipment we're going to be discussing in the next fewslides. so, there are two types of units; there are boiler based and there are connectionless.boiler based units are connected to a central boiler that provides a constant supply ofsteam, and in many cases, water is also used to cool the condensed steam to an appropriatetemperature before it is disposed of down the drain. connectionless units, on the otherhand, have an individual reservoir and heat
source to generate the steam, so the steamis generated more on demand. though the reservoir needs to be filled regularly, it doesn't requirea dedicated drain for condensate or the addition of cooling water, saving a substantial amountof water. just for reference, boiler based combi ovens use 30 to 40 gallons of waterper hour, while connectionless models can use less than half that amount. slide 20: combination ovens: o&m kim wagoner, erg: so, first and foremost,and we're going to be mentioning this several times throughout the presentation, make sureyour existing equipment is operating efficiently and effectively. for combi ovens, this means:using the modes that use steam sparingly these
are water and energy intensive to operate;turning the oven down or off when the equipment is not in use; and then making sure doorsare closed and that the doors are aligned and provide a good seal so you keep the heatand the steam inside and try to load the oven to capacity to make the most use of the steam. slide 21: combination ovens: replacements kim wagoner, erg: at this time, watersenseis not aware of any retrofit options for combi ovens. however, if you are in the market toreplace your existing combination oven or you're purchasing a new one, you should lookfor energy star qualified models. energy star provides information on the water use of itsqualified models, so be sure to look for ones
that use no more than 15 gallons of waterper hour or 3.5 gallons per pan hour. and, as with all equipment, make sure that thesize fits your cooking needs because oversized equipment can waste water and energy. slide 22: steam cookers kim wagoner, erg: steam cookers, or otherwiseknown as food steamers, are another type of water using food preparation equipment. theyare used to prepare foods through a sealed vessel that limits the escape of air and liquidsbelow a preset pressure. like combi ovens, there are two types. there are boiler basedand connectionless units, and the steam source would dictate how much water the equipmentuses. traditional boiler based units use 40
gallons of water per hour, while energy starqualified models use an average of 3 gallons of water, which is about 90 percent savings. slide 23: steam cookers: o&m kim wagoner, erg: to make sure your existingequipment is operating efficiently, here are some key things you can consider: * prepare your food and use the steam cookerin batches, so the less frequently you open and close the steam cooker, the more heatand steam is retained inside. * make sure to fill the unit to capacity andmake use of the separate compartments, using only as many compartments as are needed.
* and then make sure the steamer returns tostandby mode when not in use and turn it off at night or during other long periods whenit's not being used. * and lastly, look for and repair any leaks,and for boiler based models, make sure to remove any buildup from the boiler so thesteam supply remains efficient. slide 24: steam cookers: replacements kim wagoner, erg: like combi ovens, watersenseis currently unaware of any retrofit options for steam cookers, but if you are lookingto replace or purchase a new one, you should consider energy star qualified models. theseare connectionless units and they use 90 percent less water than the boiler based unit. inaddition, evaluate and choose a steam cooker
that's sized to match cooking needs. slide 25: steam kettles kim wagoner, erg: steam kettles are the lastof the food preparation equipment we are going to be discussing today. they are essentiallylike a big soup or stock pot. the kettle is surrounded by a jacket that circulates steamto heat the kettle contents. and like the two previous equipment that we spoke about,there are two types. there are boiler based and connectionless or self contained units,both of which are depicted here on the slide. because the steam is contained within thejacket, boiler based units require regular blowdown to remove condensate on the steamsupply line. this process can consume 100,000
gallons of water a year, so it's very waterintensive. however, because the steam does not come into contact with the food, the blowdownwater can be trapped and returned to the boiler for reuse, and that's different than the othertwo types of equipment. self contained units, on the other hand, have an internal heatingelement to generate the steam, but they do still require regular dumping and cleaning. slide 26: steam kettles kim wagoner, erg: for all steam kettles, besure to turn them off or down between uses and ensure the lid is secure to reduce theamount of steam and energy required for cooking. and for self contained units, be sure to monitorwater levels, maintain temperature control
components, and dump the water daily to preventmineral buildup and maintain the system's efficiency. slide 27: steam kettles: retrofits & replacements kim wagoner, erg: unlike combi ovens and steamcookers, there are retrofit options for boiler based steam kettles that can save water andenergy. you can install a condensate return system if one doesn't exist. this will directthe blowdown back to the central boiler for reuse. and in addition, if you're going todo that, be sure to insulate that condensate return lines so that you'll see additionalenergy savings. if you're looking to replace or purchase a new steam kettle, make surethat the kettle is sized appropriately for
its use. kettles can range from half a gallonall the way up to 200 gallons. energy star doesn't qualify steam kettles at this time,but you can consider purchasing a self contained unit, or if a boiler based model is necessary,you can choose one that has a built in condensate return system. slide 28: pre rinse spray valves kim wagoner, erg: okay, now we're going tobe moving on to the cleaning and washing equipment. the first one is commercial pre rinse sprayvalves, and these are nozzles on the end of a hose used to remove food residue from dishesprior to putting them in the dishwasher. standard pre rinse spray valves use 1.6 gallons perminute, some older models as much as 4.5 gallons
per minute. watersense does label pre rinsespray valves, and these models are 20 percent more efficient than the standard models. slide 29: pre rinse spray valves: o&m kim wagoner, erg: for operation and maintenance,first and foremost, you need to make sure dishwasher operators are using pre rinse sprayvalves only when necessary. so be sure to make sure they are scraping and scrappingfood wastes if possible and pre soaking any heavily soiled dishes to remove stuck on debris.if the spray valve has an always on clamp, which many of them do, make sure that theoperators are only engaging those when the pre rinse spray valve is in use and not leavingthem on continuously. additionally, be sure
to inspect the nozzle for scale buildup tomake sure the flow is not being restricted, so the unit continues to perform. so, additionally,make sure to periodically inspect the spray valve for leaks or broken parts, particularlyaround the nozzle and handle. these things can get pretty beat up during use, and theyare very easily damaged and can leak as a result. slide 30: pre rinse spray valves: replacements kim wagoner, erg: pre rinse spray valves arerelatively inexpensive, and newer units can be substantially more efficient, so considerreplacement instead of any kind of a retrofit. in those instances, look for watersense labeledmodels. they use 1.28 gallons per minute or
less, some substantially less than that, andthey are also certified for performance so they're tested for their spray force and theirlife cycle. slide 31: food disposals kim wagoner, erg: food disposals can alsobe another intensive water use in a commercial kitchen. many kitchens use food grinders,which require continuously running water to prevent damage to the grinder blades. manykitchens also combine that with a sluice trough, which is what's pictured here, where wateris continuously applied through a series of nozzles at rates of 2 to 15 gallons per minuteto rinse the food scraps into the disposal. food pulpers or strainers, which we will discussin the next few slides, are water efficient
alternatives to the traditional food grinder/sluicetrough system. slide 32: food disposals: o&m kim wagoner, erg: if you do have a traditionalfood disposal system, there are some operation and maintenance measures you can take to reducetheir water use. first, turn off the water to the system during idle periods when thegrinder isn't in use. be sure to scrape larger food waste into the trash instead of disposingof it into the disposal. use cold water instead of hot water; that will save energy and willalso help keep the grinder motor cool. avoid dumping oils and grease or hard objects downthe disposal, which will damage blades and make the grinder less efficient. and thenalong those lines, periodically inspect the
system to make sure blades remain sharp andthere are no debris lodged. slide 33: food disposals: retrofits & replacements kim wagoner, erg: if you are looking to retrofityour existing garbage disposal system, there are devices that can adjust the water flowto the disposal based on the motor load. these devices can reduce the flow during the idleperiods from the continuous 2 to 15 gallons per minute down to 1 gallon per minute. ifyou're looking to replace your existing food disposal system, look for models with thatbuilt in load sensor or install a food grinder alternative, such as a food pulper or a foodstrainer. food pulpers, depicted in the diagram on this slide, crush food into a pulp, extractthe excess water, and send the pulp waste
to a bin for disposal or composting. the extractedwater can then be recycled through the system, and as a result, they save about 75 percentof the water used for the food disposal process. food strainers, another alternative, use littleto no water. as the name implies, food scraps are rinsed and strained in the basket at thebottom of the sink for later disposal. slide 34: commercial dishwashers kim wagoner, erg: commercial dishwashers areone of the largest uses of water in a kitchen. there are several varieties depending upona facility's dishwashing needs, and they range from small undercounter models to large industrialflight type machines. energy star qualified commercial dishwashers can reduce water andenergy use by 25 percent over standard models.
slide 35: commercial dishwashers: o&m kim wagoner, erg: as with all commercial kitchenequipment, your first priority should be reducing water and energy use and making sure yourexisting equipment is operating efficiently and effectively. so, that means only runningthe dishwashers when they are full and turning the machine off when they're not in use, particularlyfor the larger, continuously running machines. be sure to scrape dishes prior to loadingand operate the dishwasher at the lowest flow rate and water pressure possible based onthe manufacturer recommendations. and then periodically inspect the nozzles and valvesand repair leaks immediately. slide 36: commercial dishwashers: retrofits& replacements
kim wagoner, erg: there are retrofit optionsavailable for conveyor type machines which are shown here. consider installing a racksensor that will allow the water to flow only when the dishes are present. if you're lookinginstall a new machine or to replace an existing one, make sure the size and type of equipmentmatches your dishwashing needs, and look for energy star qualified undercounter and conveyortype models that are 25 percent more water and energy efficient. there are also modelsthat can recycle or reuse rinse water from the latter phases of the dishwashing process.for the largest flight type machines, energy star does not currently qualify those, butyou can look for models that use less than 0.01 gallons of water per dish.
slide 37: wash down sprayers kim wagoner, erg: and last but not least,we're going to cover wash down sprayers. these are used for cleaning surfaces in kitchens.they can use large volumes of water to provide a high pressure cleaning stream, typically7 gallons per minute, but some use as many as 20 gallons or more. there are several moreefficient alternatives to using wash down sprayers, including pressure washers, waterbrooms, or the traditional sweeping and mopping. slide 38: wash down sprayers: o&m kim wagoner, erg: if using a wash down sprayeris necessary, keep these tips in mind. only use them to clean surfaces, do not use themto clean dishes. pre rinse spray valves are
designed for dish cleaning and can use significantlyless water. make sure you also shut the water off to the sprayer when they're not in use.and if time and resources allow, consider alternatives such as mopping slide 39: wash down sprayers: retrofits & replacements kim wagoner, erg: if your wash down sprayerdoes not have a self closing nozzle, particularly if it is a high flowing model, consider installingone. these can reduce the flow rate to 7 gallons per minute and prevent water waste when thesprayer is not in use. in addition, consider alternatives to your wash down sprayer altogether.a pressure washer is an alternative and can also be just as effective but uses only 3gallons per minute or less.
slide 40: water savings potential kim wagoner, erg: so, we've covered a lotof ground on the last few slides, so this slide is just a summary of the water efficientalternatives and savings you might see for a variety of the water using equipment youwould find in and around your commercial kitchen. and next slide. slide 41: savings potential kim wagoner, erg: so, to provide some perspectiveon the potential savings, here's just one example of the savings your hotel might seeif you were to replace a standard pre rinse spray valve with a watersense labeled model.these products can save you roughly 7,000
gallons of water and $115 in water and energycosts per year, and often that results in a simple payback on the product of less thana year. that savings is equivalent, to provide some perspective, to washing 5,000 racks ofdishes or running a convection oven for 12 hours a day for three weeks, so it's prettysubstantial. slide 42: savings and payback calculations kim wagoner, erg: so, estimating water savingsand payback and even prioritizing projects may seem like a daunting task, but watersenseat work, which is epa's water efficiency best management practices guide, can be a goodresource. it identifies some simple assumptions you can use and will walk you through wateruse and water savings calculations for the
specific equipment you are evaluating. andonce you have a good handle on the estimated savings, it can also help you estimate theproject cost effectiveness in terms of simple payback. and that's a good metric to helpyou prioritize projects that you may want to implement. then to wrap it all in a niceneat package, watersense at work also provides useful information regarding project financingso that you can actually implement the projects you identify. in addition, we did review financingoptions during the "assess, track, and realize payback" webinar that we put on earlier thisyear as part of this training series. so, if you weren't able to attend that webinar,you can consider viewing it on the h2otel challenge tools and training page on the watersensewebsite.
slide 43: wateruse tool kim wagoner, erg: great. as we mentioned earlier,watersense has also developed the wateruse tool, and that's designed to help hotel facilitypersonnel conduct a water assessment and evaluate and prioritize projects. and the tool addressesall of the major water use areas of a hotel, including commercial kitchen water use. andthis slide here is just a screenshot from the commercial kitchens tab. you can downloadthe tool from the watersense website, along with several water assessment worksheets,and those will walk you through the water assessment and help you gather all the informationyou need to help you populate the tool. you can also review the "demonstrating watersense'swateruse tool" webinar, which we put on earlier
this year as part of the h2otel challengetraining series. slide 44: questions? laura wetzel, erg: wow, that was a lot ofinformation, kim. thank you so much for presenting on all of that kitchen equipment. at thistime, we'd like to take another break for questions. so, please type those questionsinto the chat box and we'll address them as they come in. but while we're waiting, i'mgoing to launch a quick poll for the audience. so, we are wondering whether your hotel hasaddressed water efficiency through operation and maintenance or retrofits or replacementsfor any of the commercial kitchen equipment that we reviewed today. so, just take a secondto answer that poll
for us, please. so, here are the results that we have gotten.so, it looks like pre rinse spray valves are the most common equipment people have usedto address water efficiency, and that's an easy replacement, so that's great. and itlooks like a lot of you are maybe doing some in the future, not at this time though. so,thanks for that information. okay, so our first question is wondering whether we haveany checklists available for hotel kitchen managers. kim wagoner, erg: to answer that question,yes. the wateruse tool and water assessment worksheets are essentially a checklist thatwill walk you through the whole hotel, but
there is a specific section related to commercialkitchens that you can use to identify all the specific equipment that uses water inthe kitchen and the information you would need to really be able to understand and assesshow much water they're using and what options may be available to you in reducing that wateruse. tara o'hare, epa: and the other thing i willsay is that this is tara o'hare again that a lot of times we defer to the standard operatingprocedures of the actual facility and we encourage the managers to take a look at those sopsand see if there are any areas where the method of cleaning something or the process thatthey use could be more water efficient because sometimes it's just as simple as telling someonethat they should turn something off when doing
something else. so, you know, there are manyopportunities in just the basics as well. laura wetzel, erg: great, well, it looks likewe don't have any other questions at this time, but if more come in, we'll address themlater on in the webinar. so, now let's hear from ray dennis on how loyola marymount universityhas put many of these best practices in action in their dining halls across the campus. ray? slide 45: loyola marymount university ray dennis, loyola marymount university: hello,great, welcome everyone. this is ray dennis, and i am with loyola marymount university.we are located in los angeles, california, and focused in higher education. just to tellyou a little bit about our background, we
are a princeton green campus. princeton isthe organization that ranks universities in terms of their green practices, and loyolamarymount university is listed in the top 322; there are about 4,000 universities inthe country. i do know that we're not a hotel per se, but we do have many similarities.our demographics consist of 6,000 undergraduate students; 2,000 graduate students; and approximately2,000 employees. we are an undergraduate, as well as graduate, program offering mastersdegree programs, credentials, and extended education. my role in auxiliary is i overseehospitality and dining, and we are responsible for four commercial kitchens and approximately14 satellite venues. and those venues can be anything from a starbucks to a jamba juiceto a jasmine's cafe, a diner, and so forth
and so on. for the purposes of this presentation,i am going to focus on primarily the lair marketplace, which is our largest venue wherewe serve approximately 25,000 guests a week, so it does a lot of transactions. as a campus,all 18 satellite locations, we do about 45,000 meal transactions a week. we have a secondarydining room called roski dining that does about 5,000, as well as the remainder of campusthat does anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 weekly guests. we also run a major camp program duringthe summer, as well as we reach out to some of our athletic programs as well. so, as yougo to the next slide� slide 46: loyola marymount university ray dennis, loyola marymount university: you'llsee that loyola marymount is interested in
partnering with groups like the epa watersenseprogram. as you know, the information on california, we are in our third year of statewide drought,and we are experiencing water restrictions. we are in the los angeles department of waterand power i refer to as ladwp jurisdictions and we also are a participant with the southerncalifornia metropolitan water district which receives their water excuse me, who supportsthe water of the ladwp to support what happens with the distribution network of water. weare currently under voluntary restrictions in los angeles by the ladwp, and we know thatfor those of you who are in california, there are probably other similar environments, rateincreases will continue. we are expecting about an 8 percent increase per annum in thenext five years, and then the university of
higher education where you have to be consciousof reducing the cost of attendance as tuition increases, you have to look for ways to reduceyour cost. so, obviously there is the roi that's already there built in to save water,and i hope that does extrapolate to the hotel industry as well. we also have students, studentsthat come from all around the country, and they're environmentally conscious. so, wehave focus on the triple bottom line, of people, planet, and profits. in order to deal withensuring we have an environment that is safe for the future as well as focus of reducingour bottom line as a university in terms of amount of cost it takes. next slide. slide 47: loyola marymount university
ray dennis, loyola marymount university: onthe next slide, we'll see that we have in our strategic plan, this verbiage here. andit's good to have a vision as it surrounds these things. "strengthen the university'scommitment to stewardship," and i think that's important as many of the millennials and generationx and generation y have grown up in an environmentally conscious mindset. we also want to be ethicallysustainable, do things that do not destroy the environment, as well as environmentallyjustice concern for how we do business on campus and how it improves our morale to ensurehuman resilience. we want to ensure from an institutional perspective that we are notadding to the carbon footprint. as i say, you know, saving water saves lives. for ahotel, just like a university, competitive
advantage is important, whether you're inthe kitchen or whether you're in sales and marketing, your rankings and your marketplacedelineation are being assessed by your customers, assessed by your students who are evaluatingthe university. this is not just green washing; we are certified by the green restaurant association,which certifies all of your practices, whether you're sourcing organically or locally, yourwater conservation, your energy conservation, your utensils, and all of your products. weare certified as a four star location; the only other university in the country withthat certification is boston university. all other schools that are green restaurant certifiedare three stars, and we are particularly proud of that. we also are an ladwp, los angelesdepartment of water and power, green partner,
as well as a member of the u.s. zero wastebusiness council, and for that group, we do consider water if it's not used wasted. so,in california, all of us are looking to reduce our waste, whether it be water, whether itbe food, whether it be organics, as we know legislation is coming up, too. the assemblybill number 341 tells us we have to reduce our waste by 75 percent by the year 2020.we can advance to the next slide. slide 48: loyola marymount university ray dennis, loyola marymount university: wewill also understand that lmu uses a good chunk of water. we have 142 acres of propertythat the school resides on, so we have drought tolerant landscaping, and we are a purplepipe campus, which means that we use recycled
water on 75 percent of our grounds, all aroundour dining facilities outdoors. we also have identified that we do have restrooms, manyrestrooms, dishrooms, three compartment sinks, handwashing sinks food preparation is an importantpart where we know water is used at fountain machines, cleaning and sanitation, etc. obviously,there are other uses on campus but for the purpose of this presentation, we are goingto focus on these right here. if we could go to the next slide� slide 49: water efficiency actions ray dennis, loyola marymount university: wewill see that the university has extended hours, just like hotels. we're open, however,227 academic days a year. hotels are typically
open 360 or 365 days a year. we do use a contractprovider, sodexo, and we offer an all you care to eat program, and an all you care toeat program is one of those that is highly intensive on water, as well as food waste,but we service our full dining staff, including providing catering like hotels do in someof the banquet halls, our students, our guests, camps, conference visitors, so forth and soon. we have taken some initiatives that are consistent with what we are trying to achieve,so therefore, we only procure energy star qualified equipment, and it's great to hearthat being resonated by watersense and epa. and there are a number of models that we use,but we only purchase energy star qualified equipment whenever we can. some of the efficienciesthat we've already implemented are metering
and submetering. many places have a centralmeter that comes with their campus; we have installed submeters in our kitchens and alot of meters on our water. we are tracking how much water our three compartment sinkis using, and we are tracking how much water our pulper is recycling from our dishwasher.we've implemented through our provider that we don't thaw food by just running water overit. we also have focused on removing our final and last remainder a couple of years ago ofgarbage disposals. here in the l.a. county area, garbage disposals are not allowed incommercial kitchens according to the city of l.a. bureau of sanitation. we also havebaskets, salvajor capture baskets. we capture not only food, but also recycle water intoour somat pulper dehydrator. i saw that on
the presentation earlier as well. we've installedin the lair marketplace gra approved low flow water sprayers and again, you know, that'sa training process you have to attend to because many of your employees want to take it offand put a more powerful hose on there, but we spank their hand when they do that kindof stuff. so, we finally changed the culture and behavior there. we've also installed faucetaerators, not only on our handwashing sinks, but where practical, we have installed themon some of our wash sinks. our flight type dishwashing machine, we replaced it. it used352 gallons of water per rinse cycle versus our newer machine, which we installed twoyears ago, which uses only 98 gallons as well as 25 percent less electricity to operate.we've added fog tank. fog tanks are really
great because they take some of the pressureoff the three compartment sinks, and that fog tank decarbonizes your pans, pots, andthings like that so not only do you cook faster, you also don't have to wash them in a flightmachine as frequently�you only have to spray them. our ice machines were replaced. we allhave ice machines the brand that we use is the 2014 energy star winner, according tothe food service industry. and we also use low flow sensor toilets and faucets throughoutour restrooms that the employees have within the dining facility. we'll advance to thenext slide, please. slide 50: water efficiency outcomes ray dennis, loyola marymount university: so,results, and then we'll be done. the results
are, we curtailed our hydrojetting. we havean organic enzyme system that releases an enzyme every 15 minutes into our drainlinesin our kitchens and what that does, it prevented us from having to hydrojet. we did not haveto hydrojet in all of the year 2013. it also reduces the fogs food, oil, and gas that aregoing into your grease trap, thus reducing the number of times you have to have yourcontractor come in and pump your grease from your cooking. we've installed jetsprays. thejetsprays have saved us approximately 1 million gallons of water per year. our aerators havesaved approximately 2 million gallons per year. and our dishwasher has saved anywherefrom 578,000 gallons of water to as much as 760,000 gallons of water. the fog tank iscurrently underway. we estimate by the end
of the year, it will save us probably 743,000gallons of water, as well as our sensor faucets, which will save us 281,000 gallons of water.the sensor toilets, we don't have very many, but we do have low flow showerheads for employeesthat come into work and change into their uniforms in the locker room and might takea shower if they need. we have about 234 employees in our dining facilities on campus. so, toget a perspective of these changes, our sensor toilets went from 1.6 to 1.28 gallons perflush. our sensor faucets went from 1.6 to 0.5 gallons per minute. our fog tank is a40 gallon fog tank, and that 40 gallons of water lasts us for 30 days before we haveto change it. we also, campuswide, on our aerators, we installed about 100 aeratorsthroughout the campus in our 18 locations.
those aerators went from a 2.2 gallons perminute flow to about a 1.0 gallon per minute flow. our pre rinse sprayers, used for sevenhours a day, we estimate we went from about 1.28 to a 0.65 gallons per minute flow, andthe spray is very important. it does mean that our employees have to work just a littlebit harder to scrape all the food off as was mentioned earlier. so, we're not done yet,because we do know there is always room for improvement. we are paying approximately $5.85per 100 cubic feet of water. one hundred cubic feet of water is 748 gallons. we also haveto pay, according to the ladwp, sewer service connection charges, and our sewer serviceconnection charges are linked to how much water you use and that brings us to approximately$3.73 to $3.97 per hcf. so, it really does
add up. as a campus, we are probably spendingabout $5 million a year on utility costs, and our goal is to not only be practical inthe sense of the environment, but respond to the needs of our customers, and get a sensethat we are being good stewards, as well as focused on trimming our bottom line. i thinkthat's the last of my slides. slide 51: questions? ray dennis, loyola marymount university: so,i am open for questions, if there are any questions. laura wetzel, erg: wow, thanks for that reallygreat presentation, ray. it's a really good, comprehensive overview of all that you'redoing at loyola marymount. so, we have a few
questions that have already come in for ray,but keep them coming. first, carly would like to know how long it took for you to get yourstaff to really buy into these water efficiency activities, and you could also maybe explainhow you got them to buy into it, too. ray dennis, loyola marymount university: okay,well, it took a little while. i'll be very honest with you. but because we are managedby a contract provider, and many of our employees have a culture where they are used to thisstrong sense of running water, it took some while. it took some hr work, and it did takesome constant training. the companies that worked with us to install a lot of these dohelp out with these trainings. so, for example, you know, when you look at "why not just throwthe trash out of the compactor" versus "let's
hold it and put it in the dehydrator and thenlet's put it in the bin so it can go into animal feed," those are not the standard practicesthat you would find in residential homes. it took a little while, but once the employeeswere incentivized by the contract provider to do a good job, they saw that it was savingthem tons of effort and work, they typically brought in. i would say once you start thisprogram, give it a six month lead time. we've been at this for probably about two, maybetwo and a half, years. laura wetzel, erg: that's some helpful informationand background. tara o'hare, epa: did you this is tara, raydid you include that in the performance, those types of performance measures when you weremaking that contract with the providers? or
is that something that you kind of workedwith them afterwards to include? ray dennis, loyola marymount university: weworked with them afterwards and we're right now finishing off an rfp whereby our futureprovider and the main players, they have to all lead by these standards going forward;they can't go backwards. our students expect this and too much is at stake with the environment. tara o'hare, epa: that's great. so, do youhave signage in your dining hall to educate the students as well, or are you working withthe student groups to get the word out? ray dennis, loyola marymount university: absolutely,absolutely. we are part of a group with student leadership. they have a sustainability vicepresident in student government and in our
lair marketplace, we have a sign that we haveno trash cans. we have signage to show how we take pre and post consumer waste and runit through the system. we have dishes, we have china, we have silverware. we do allowcompostables to be used if someone is taking something on the go, but everything ends upgoing to the process and so the students have embraced it tremendously and even our suppliers.coca cola, we've asked them to provide us only with eco friendly cups, which are moreexpensive but they are biodegradable. so, i think that a university whose students havebeen trained from k through 12 about being environmentally conscious and when they getto higher education, they expect that. tara o'hare, epa: that's great. that's a reallygreat example of how you can, you know, get
the behavioral change from the actual userstoo, not just your employees. i think that's an awesome example. thank you very much forsharing. ray dennis, loyola marymount university: sure. laura wetzel, erg: and, we have another questionjust looking for a little bit more information on the upgrades that you did to your fog tank. ray dennis, loyola marymount university: fogtank, okay. so, as you know, a three compartment sink if you have a three compartment sink,you get to wash, rinse, and sanitize, and each one use is probably about, i would say,somewhere around about 30 gallons of water. you are using about 100 gallons to fill thatpuppy up, and it only lasts so long so you
got to flush it and then refill it. and yougot to flush it and refill it, and you have to be audited by the health department, soforth and so on. so, what we did, we used one called hygenics fog tank. we got a goodprice on it, and we brought it in last semester. we've got a meter now, an analog meter onour three compartment sink to measure how much water it is using. so, what we have donewith the fog tank, which is 40 gallons of water, you have a mix solution that you pourinto that water. it runs off regular 110 volt power and what it does, it takes all the carbonoff of your baking pans, your pots, and things like that and then what that does is you onlyhave to just rinse it. you don't have to do anything else; you basically just rinse it.so, in essence, you're saving yourself from
having to run it through your dish machine.so, with 40 gallons of water, if you can reduce your three compartment sink down to two refills,you can immediately save 100 gallons in one day versus using 40 gallons of water for 30days. i hope that kind of clarifies it. laura wetzel, erg: i think that does. ray dennis, loyola marymount university: okay. laura wetzel, erg: so, it looks like for now,that's our last question. thank you again, ray, for all of that great information. ray dennis, loyola marymount university: you'rewelcome. laura wetzel, erg: so, let's take a few minutesjust to review what we've learned in the webinar
now. tara? slide 52: webinar review tara o'hare, epa: thanks, laura, and thankyou, ray, for that really great case study. we appreciate you taking the time to shareyour successes with the group. it's a really great example of how all of these pieces canfit together and save significant amounts of water and energy in the process. tara o'hare, epa: yes, excellent. so, as wediscussed earlier, water use in commercial kitchens accounts for about 14 percent ofa hotel's water use. and as a first step, you can implement water efficient operationand maintenance practices to make sure your
food service equipment is operating efficientlyand effectively. some of these measures are relatively easy to implement, require littlecapital cost, and can result in significant water and energy savings. in addition, considering equipment retrofitsor replacements where appropriate can also get you additional water and energy savings.look for watersense labeled pre rinse spray valves or energy star qualified ice machines,steam cookers, combi ovens, and dishwashers. these models provide significant water andenergy savings over standard models and are certified for efficiency and performance. lastly, you can consult the watersense atwork: best management practices guide for
additional replacement or retrofit optionsor ideas for other equipment, such as steam kettles, food disposals, wash down sprayers,and to help you calculate project savings and cost effectiveness. slide 53: what you can do right now tara o'hare, epa: so, after all this information,i'm sure many of you are sitting there thinking what can you do right now, and some of thesethings obviously take a lot longer and require some training and some effort, but there aresome simple things you can do today to start saving. so, one of them is to first, ensureyou are properly operating and maintaining your existing equipment. i know we've saidthis a bunch of times on the call, but it
is one of the biggest and most important aspectsbecause it is a lot of the savings can come from the use phase. also, you can train yourstaff to scrape dishes and to soak the food off the dishes basically before you are puttingthem in the dishwasher or rinsing them with the pre rinse spray valve. you can also loadyour cooking equipment and dishwashers to full capacity. and you can also replace anyexisting pre rinse spray valves with watersense labeled models, and this can actually provideyou payback in less than a year. then you can also download and use the wateruse tool,which is available in our website to assess and prioritize other water savings opportunitiesin your commercial kitchen and throughout your hotel or other type of facility.
slide 54: h2otel challenge resources tara o'hare, epa: so, we hope you found thecontent in today's webinar useful. we've actually done a series about seven of these webinarsso far, and the recordings are available up on the watersense tools and training pagefor the h2otel challenge. and each one of the webinars, like this one today, coversa different aspect of water management, including water management planning and water assessments;best management practices for sanitary fixtures, laundry equipment, outdoor water use, andmechanical/hvac systems; education and outreach, including employee education; and a demonstrationon our wateruse tool. so, if you've missed those webinars, we encourage you to take alook on our website. we have a youtube channel
that has recordings of all of our webinarslike the one we had today. we also have a bunch of our case studies from our differentwebinars written up and posted on our website as well for you to take a look at, and we'llbe putting one together for this webinar and also loyola marymount as well. and then we'realso going to be repeating our introduction to the challenge call called "taking the plunge"on september 18 now that more of our tools and resources are available. we thought itwould be a good idea to tell people about it again, and so we're also scheduling additionalwebinars for the next coming months. so, keep an eye out. all of the webinar registrationdetails will be available on our website, and they'll also be in our monthly tip emailsas well.
the webinar content helpful today. the pollwill be launching on your screen in just a of you could use the information. that's whatwe like to hear. it's always nice to know type them into the chat box or you can contactthe watersense helpline, and we'll answer will be posting it on the website, on theyoutube channel, and you will be receiving or anybody else you think may be interestedin today's topic. and if you haven't already