The Green Restaurant Association has endorsed Powerhouse Dynamics’ eMonitor energy management system.
The eMonitor is designed specifically to meet the needs of small commercial operations such as restaurants and convenience stores. The eMonitor remotely controls heating and cooling systems, and monitors a building’s electrical power consumption at the equipment level. It analyzes every electric load in a facility and delivers real-time intelligence to identify such things as unnecessary off-hours usage. It also monitors natural gas and water usage as well as refrigeration temperatures and other variables. The eMonitor can be accessed via mobile devices.
Restaurants that implement a complete eMonitor system will earn 11.25 GreenPoints toward becoming a Certified Green Restaurant from the Green Restaurant Association, a national non-profit organization that provides a turnkey certification system for restaurants.
An E Source report found that almost two-thirds of the energy used in restaurants is allocated to kitchen activities compared to typical commercial buildings, where lighting and HVAC account for the majority of energy consumption.
Powerhouse Dynamics also caters to other businesses besides restaurants. In 2012, it updated the eMonitor app to include support for its commercial thermostat that enables up to 8 different set points per day, allowing managers to fine tune HVAC systems.