“Restaurants use 285 percent more utilities than the average commercial building,” said Joey Terrell. “The easiest way to reduce these costs and improve energy-efficiency is to switch from traditional fluorescents to daylighting and LEDs, and that’s what we did.”

Facts

• The restaurant reduced its lighting load through effective use of natural lighting and high-efficiency LED technology.
• The dining room has 76 Cree LR6 six-inch LED downlights and a light harvesting system composed of south-facing windows and six skylights.
• Terrell says these two features reduced lighting costs by 83 percent and his electricity bill is now around $1,000 a month instead of the expected $2,100 a month, based on the average costs for a similar location.
• Other features of Terrell’s green design include efficiency-rated equipment, roof and wall insulation to conserve heating and cooling energy, low-flow toilets and faucets to reduce water consumption and a computerized deep fryer that controls oil heating and gas use.
• Overall, Terrell expects to save between $2,000 and $5,000 a month on utilities.