Energianvändning i restauranger i Umeå kommun
Efficient energy use in restaurantsUmeå Municipality wishes to combine energy issues with food control, and thus help restaurants to become more energy efficient. During March and April 2010, I visited seven restaurants and interviewed restaurant personnel about current state and application of kitchen appliances, using a checklist to make sure that the same questions were asked at all restaurants. The restaurants were all different sizes and offered different kinds of food. The study mostly focuses on energy efficiency by behaviour and not on location or technology. Almost every restaurant that was visited had the potential to improve in one or more areas, such as kitchen appliances, lamps and lighting fixtures, heating, cooling and ventilation. Concering the behavior of the personnel, it is always possible to be more careful with energy use. Based on a compilation of the responses from the checklist, action proposals were presented to each of the restaurants. The action proposals involve kitchen appliances, lamps and lighting fixtures, heating, cooling and ventilation. The food inspectors will hand out a newly created information sheet based on the obtained interview results to the restaurants in the municipality of Umeå. All restaurants can benefit from learning more about their kitchen appliances and optimize their usage. Some of the restaurants already had good knowledge of energy efficiency issues, but some didn?t have any knowledge at all. Some of the restaurants were really willing to improve their energy efficiency, whereas others didn?t care at all.