We are well into the winter semester here at the University of Guelph. Once again we are measuring plate waste at PJ’s as well as running some other exciting projects. Professor Bahram Gharabagi has a group from his 3rd year engineering class studying what it would cost to overhaul PJ’s kitchen equipment to ‘state of the art’ Energy Star products. They are also studying ways to maximize cooking efficiency and researching more advanced HVAC options for the restaurant. Stay tuned to read the results of their efforts!
We also have a fourth year student, Nicole Greer replicating a study conducted by the MIT Sloan School of Business. Their research entitled “First look: The second annual sustainability and innovation survey” is considered benchmark work in measuring organizational efforts in regards to sustainable practices. Unfortunately, the research that MIT Sloan has conducted does not take into account the multi-billion dollar industry that is food-service? Nicole is going to measure and compare a response to the questions posed by the MIT/Sloan study in a Canadian Food-service context. The data she gathers should provide some insight into how our industry in responding to a rapidly changing business landscape! Stay tuned to find out the results of that research as well!
University of Guelph Sustainable Restaurant Project 