ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

VENTILATED (HYDRA GIF) CEILING

A ventilated ceiling has been installed into the kitchens at Rialto replacing traditional extraction.This consumes less energy and makes much less noise than a conventional hood.The ventilated ceiling provides better air quality for both staff and guests.Unlike traditional hood extraction which is concentrated in a specific part of the kitchen, the ventilated ceiling is spread out across the kitchen drawing directly upwards from the cooking sources capturing more output with less energy.Because air is not being drawn to one centralised source, draughts in the kitchen are reduced assisting with maintaining the temperature of food once it is on the plate.Ease of cleaning and high level fire resistance are two other significant benefits of the ventilated ceiling.Make-up air to the kitchen hood is only tempered (slightly heated) in winter to avoid condensation and not cooled at all in summer, reducing heating and cooling energy.

COLD KITCHEN – INDUCTION COOKING

The kitchen has been designed to use ‘Cold kitchen technology.’There are no open flames/gas in the kitchen – induction cook tops are used for most cooking.Other appliances such as deep fryers are only on when in use.This reduction in cooking heat uses less power and creates much less excess heat which in turn reduces air conditioning needs.With gas cooking, 50-60% of the Gas-energy passes outside of the pan without really heating the pan.That loss of energy is constant during the cooking-process (induction-hobs bring more than 96 % of the electric-energy into the bottom of the pan). As the induction cook top turns off automatically as soon as the pan leaves its surface, energy usage from hobs being left on when not in use no longer occurs. Induction hobs can save 60 to 80 % of the energy consumption of Gas Burners.Gas hobs and traditional electric hotplates have to be cleaned intensively. Induction-hobs stay relatively cold and splashes from the pans cannot burn-in and stick easily.Due to the lack of radiant heat chefs can work closer to a running induction hob than a gas hob giving them more control and lessening the likelihood to spills and splashes from the pan.This reduced cleaning requirement extends the life of the equipment and reduces cleaning costs and labour significantly.The climate conditions in the kitchen are much better, because induction hobs practically do not heat the kitchen or the surrounding area.This also reduces loads on cooling requirements (airconditioning).

SECONDARY GLYCOL REFRIGERATION

All under bench refrigeration in the bar, kitchen and prep kitchen uses a common secondary glycol refrigeration system. This means that the fridges are cooled by a centralised chiller, rather than the more traditional independent refrigeration units.The system reduces the amount of refrigerant gas required, reduces noise and heat emissions and uses far less energy than traditional refrigeration.

DISHWASHERS

The dishwashers  installed at Rialto are the most energy efficient on the market.Manufactured by Meiko, they utlise a Low Energy Management system to run at optimal efficiency levels for exhaust air heat recovery, humidity, air supply and pre-heating.In comparison to standard models this achieves a yearly energy saving of approximately 15,330 kilowatt hours.

LED LIGHTS

VDM have insisted on all light fittings being lit by LED  (light emitting diodes).LED lights use between 50 and 80 percent less energy than a halogen bulb and last up to 5 times as long. LED lights are considerably less expensive to operate, however are a little more expensive to purchase.LEDS are more durable as they do not have a filament; they are not damaged under circumstances when a regular incandescent bulb would be broken. Because they are solid, LED bulbs hold up well to jarring and bumping.LEDS generate 50-80% less heat than a halogen bulb, reducing air conditioning energy consumption.No mercury is used in the manufacturing of LEDs.

· A user friendly lighting control system has been installed, enabling simple control and dimming of lighting to suit the use of each individual space.This will lead to further reductions in lighting energy consumption.

· The use of eWater reduces the demand for hot water for cleaning, reducing heating energy consumption.

· The air conditioning will be switched off when outdoor conditions are appropriate, and the restaurant naturally ventilated during cleaning and preparation periods, reducing heating, cooling and ventilation energy.

· Energy end uses will be submetered to provide facility for monitoring and tracking energy consumption.Energy consumption from the kitchen, lighting and power and the air conditioning system will be metered separately to identify areas of high demand.Consumption will be compared to relevant fine dining energy benchmarks and previous energy consumption at Normanby Chambers, and continually improved.