THE CHALLENGES

In supporting sustainable local industry we have used in every instance possible local designers, manufacturers and materials. Having said this, there are instances where unfortunately we have had no choice but to look overseas. Examples of this are the bluestone for our bar and for the floor. Our preference was to use bluestone from Deer Park however costs and lead times made the prohibitive causing us much frustration and confusion. In some instances a like product is simply not available. For instance our search for beautiful, high end, fine dining style cutlery that is locally made for the restaurant was not successful. Bespoke pieces proved to be prohibitively expensive. We chose to purchase our cutlery from Christofle whose philosophies of family heritage and long term quality products that are built to last appealed to us for their sustainability, history and longevity.

Our philosophy is that whilst sustainability is a challenging area with many contradictions and misinformation this should not stop us doing what we can and talking about it even though we are not perfect.

You can read more on the specific sustainability initiatives we are implementing at Rialto by clicking on the links below –

• Thinking Local
• Energy Efficiency
• Recycling
• Production Efficiency
  

Thinking Locally

LOCALLY DESIGNED AND MADE FURNITURE

All furniture used in the restaurant, the bar and the events space is custom made and designed by local artisan craftspeople.

Kangaroo skins and furs are used in the furniture design - all these have been strictly sourced from Government accredited culls and the restaurant is serving kangaroo meat on the menu with a strong belief that producing food from animals which belong here and are adapted to this country makes environmental sense.

The solid Australian timbers and veneers used in manufacturing the furniture have been harvested from eco-select forests and the MDF board is E1 certified with glues that are environmentally friendly.  Seating shells used in the main dining chairs are moulded to shape using reconstituted and recycled plastics sourced from post-consumer industry waste like old telephones and computers. Foam cushioning is all certified with GECA (Good Environmental Choice Australia).

The furniture in Lui Bar has been purchased second hand and re-upholstered using beautiful fabric, giving it a second life.

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.

Energy Efficiency

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 (air-conditioning).

Energy Efficiency

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.

Energy Efficiency

LED LIGHTS

We 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. LED's 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. LED's generate 50-80% less heat than a halogen bulb, reducing air conditioning energy consumption. No mercury is used in the manufacturing of LED's.

OTHER INITIATIVES

• 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.

Energy Efficiency

OTHER INITIATIVES

• In our bathrooms we have installed Dyson Airblade hand dryers which use up to 80% less power than regular hand dryers and prohibit the need for paper towels. Most components of the hand dryers are recyclable and the eradication of paper or cloth towels massively reduce emissions associated with pulping, bleaching and road transport. The hand dryer create approximately 4.9 gm of C02 per day versus 12.5 gm for paper towels.

• We have eradicated the use of linen table cloths across all our venues. At Rialto we have purchased our own linen serviettes which we launder ourselves using Miele washers and dryers. Miele are world leaders in sustainable technology for laundry appliances.

• The air conditioning is 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 are submetered to provide facility for monitoring and tracking energy consumption. Energy consumption from the kitchen, lighting and power and the air conditioning system is 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.

Recycling

‘UP CYCLED’ CUTLERY

Use of ‘up-cycled’ cutlery for the bar and function cutlery. Second hand cutlery has been sourced and chrome plated giving the cutlery a second life.

RECYCLED TILES

Tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms are supplied by Inax. They are made from a minimum of 40% recycled material and comply to ISO 14001.

Production Efficiency

eWATER

Installation of the eWater system which through electrolysis of a saline solution produces two natural agents. One is a sanitiser and the other a cleaning liquid. Both have no odour, colour and are not harmful to the environment. This enables a hospital grade cleaning solution to be made on site using only tap water and salt. This removes the need for packaging, transportation and it also removes all production emissions that are usually associated with the production of chemicals. No chemicals will be used for cleaning, apart from the dishwashers and no ‘trade waste’ will be produced.

POLYETHYENE PIPEWORK

Polyethylene pipework was used for sanitary drainage, rather than the more typical PVC pipework. The manufacture of PVC produces toxins such as carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens, and Vue de Monde therefore sought to limit its use in the restaurant.

Production Efficiency

MONIKA

Use of a food safety logging program called Monika which monitors direct from specially designed probes to our network food arrival temperatures, fridge temperatures and cooked food temperatures. All of this information is logged back on to our network for auditing and provides interactive feedback via SMS and email to chefs.This system is used widely in the UK. This greatly minimises food risks, identifies equipment failure or inefficiency and reduces paperwork and manual processing.

WASTE

Recycling facilities have been integrated into the fitout design to enable effective sorting and recycling of organic waste, waste oil, paper, glass, metal and landfill waste.

Production Efficiency

WATER

Water consumption from air conditioning systems is reduced through the use of air cooled chillers rather than water cooled. Air cooled chillers do not rely on cooling tower systems for heat rejection which use significant amounts of water in the rejection process.

Water meters separately meter cold water and eWater usage. This enables monitoring and tracking of consumption, and helps identify any anomalies such as leaks in the system, helping to reduce water consumption. 

High efficiency fixtures and fittings have been used in the kitchen and toilets, reducing water consumption.