Commercial, Demand Management, Energy Efficiency  -  June 9, 2016

Chipotle cuts energy use 13% via data-driven energy management system

 Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has made a 13% reduction in its energy use across 127 of its locations through the implementation of a suite of products offered through an energy management system provider. 

As part of Chipotle's larger sustainability strategy, the company has been working with data-driven EMS provider GridPoint to roll out asset-level submetering and the centralized management of air conditioning at its restaurants; the system includes override thresholds, which GridPoint says allows Chipotle to optimize savings without sacrificing the comfort of its customers. 

According to a June 7 news release from GridPoint, the EMS  has been installed in multiple restaurants across Chipotle’s three brands; Chipotle Mexican Grill, Pizzeria Locale and ShopHouse. The solution includes HVAC control, temperature monitoring, and asset-level sub-metering which details energy expenditure of specific equipment pieces including HVAC units, walk-in coolers, kitchen hoods and steam tables.

Sites have since been continuously optimized through algorithmic control and data analysis to reduce peaks and operational drift, and are able to leverage structured and historical asset-level data. Collected data is then aggregated in GridPoint’s cloud-based software platform and broken down into alarm and exception reports designed for Chipotle’s facilities team, which can then monitor usage trends, verify equipment is working properly and identify savings opportunities across their fleet of sites.

"GridPoint’s data-driven products play an essential role in our ability to affect our environmental impact across our restaurants nationally. The financial benefits we see continue to grow as we deploy the solution throughout our enterprise and is an exceptional by-product of working with partners like GridPoint,” Chipotle Executive Director Carolyn Anderson said in the release. "GridPoint’s flexibility in offering a comprehensive 'EMS as a Service solution' with little to no upfront investment combined with its attractive returns makes it a great fit across our concepts, and further drives corporate sustainability goals at each location.”

Chipotle says on its web site: 

Over the years, Chipotle has worked hard to reduce energy usage in our restaurants. From our design team that builds with energy-efficiency in mind, to our procurement team that purchases energy-efficient equipment whenever possible, to our facilities team that helps drive down energy by maintaining and fixing equipment, we’re constantly looking for ways to be more energy efficient in everything we do.

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