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Join us for an online Roundtable that explores electric equipment for commercial kitchens. Commercial kitchen electrification is a growing movement. Reasons include safety, improved cooking, easier cleaning, better HVAC operations, efficient space utilization, and lower costs for installation and operations (depending on location). It is an important movement for building decarbonization and with more municipalities and air districts imposing restrictions on gas-fueled appliances, smart planning.
This online Roundtable explores the electric equipment for commercial kitchens. Hear from New Buildings Institute and the California Energy Design Assistance (CEDA) program along with our special guests from Frontier Energy Food Service Technology Center and Rational, as well as others.
Panelists include:
Richard Young, Director of Outreach, Frontier Energy Food Service Technology Center (FSTC) —an unbiased, commercial foodservice, research-and-training facility. Trained as an electrical engineer, Richard started his career in alternative energy, changing from energy-generation to energy-efficiency when he joined the FSTC research team over 34 years ago. He is a contributor to the USGBC’s LEED rating system and the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. Richard focuses his efforts on translating Frontier Energy’s 35 years of food service research into practical information. He has created and delivered over 1500 presentations and classes during the last 30 years and authored numerous research reports and articles in magazines, newsletters, and on the web. Richard is currently an advisor to the Mission College culinary education program and the Worldchefs Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals program. He is also the creator and author of the online Foodservice Energy Efficiency Expert (Fe3) training and certification program.
Michael Slater, Frontier Energy FSTC
Michael is an Engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the renewables and environment industry. As an engineer at Frontier Energy, Inc, Michael specializes in decarbonizing technologies related to hot water systems for the food service industry.
Lee Baker, Vice President of Product Management Sales Group North America for Rational.
Rational is an international manufacturer of cooking appliances for commercial kitchens. Their story began over 50 years ago with the idea of combining dry and moist heat to create the ideal cooking environment. In the USA, they currently have an installation base of over 35,000 units coast to coast.
Kurt Eickmeyer, CFSP, Senior Vice President, Executive Strategic Initiatives, Jade Range/Beech Ovens
Kurt used his background as a ceramic engineer to help Wood Stone grow from a startup to an industry leader with more than $30 million in annual revenue. He is proud to now be a part of Jade Range / Beech Ovens bringing innovative, high quality, customer driven initiatives to the rapidly changing world of foodservice.
Moderator:
Susan Harris, Senior Technical Communications Advisor, New Buildings Institute
Susan has over 15 years experience in communications and information systems management. Her work at NBI focuses on special projects, communication tools, project documentation, and information distribution. Prior to joining NBI in 2010 she worked with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
This is the second of a six-part series in 2024 where we talk about electrification and decarbonization with manufacturers of key technologies. Our previous event focused on Low-GWP HVAC, Refrigeration, and Water Heating Equipment.
