Energy and Water Conservation

Dining Services is installing advanced exhaust hood technology from Intelli-Hood to reduce heating, cooling and electricity usage with variable control exhaust hoods. With this technology, the average hood can reduce energy usage by roughly the equivalent of the annual electricity usage of 12 Maryland homes.
Dish machines have been replaced with energy efficient steam heated equipment that uses 30% less water. In addition, the steam used to heat the water is recycled. This saves approximately 80,000 gallons of water per month – roughly the water used by 26 Maryland residents.
An Opti Rinse technology dish-machine uses “large droplet” S-shaped rinse to reduce water consumption by more than 50% and energy usage by more than 50% compared to our current high efficiency dish machines.
All water-cooled refrigerator systems have been replaced with air cooled systems or closed loop cooling tower systems. This eliminates the annual use of 150,000 gallons of water in these refrigeration systems.
“Combi Ovens” have replaced gas convention ovens. These ovens are more efficient and also cook more quickly leading to greater energy savings.
The windows in South Campus Dining Hall were replaced with new energy-efficient insulated windows. The roof and ductwork in the Diner were insulated and inefficient air conditioning systems were replaced with energy efficient environmentally friendly systems. This will reduce heating and cooling energy use by 10-15%.
Lighting in production, storage and office areas is being switched to compact fluorescent bulbs.
All public restrooms and storage areas have lighting system motion detectors to turn lights off when the spaces are not in use.
Hallways have had the lighting levels reduced by 50 percent.

The Diner is undergoing a “Green Upgrade”

When finished: