GridPoint

Power supply is critical to Five Star Call Centers. They’ve built a solid reputation for providing consistent, reliable, and friendly customer care, and a loss of power could wreak havoc on their business. To prevent service disruptions, the company has an uninterruptible power supply on-site, as well as a backup generator.The generator was necessary, but almost never used, and there were monthly expenses to maintain it. GridPoint recognized the opportunity to help Five Star turn an idle resource into a revenue-producing, grid-interactive asset.

Ampler Holdings, a quick-service restaurant platform owning 347 restaurants, including over 80 Burger King locations, was facing a series of challenges related to energy management. The company had no Energy Management System in place, leading to inconsistent operational control and unnecessary energy use, such as lights being left on overnight. There was also a lack of automation for energy needs, resulting in situations like dining room lights not being turned on in the morning. The HVAC set points were inefficient and lacked standardization, and there was no visibility into the health of the HVAC systems. These challenges were exacerbated by the fact that Ampler had assembled its portfolio of restaurants in a relatively short timeframe, and was therefore focused on operational improvements and insights.

The Minnesota-based national retail chain, with nearly 2000 stores and 50 supply chain facilities across the US, was committed to achieving net zero by 2040. To reach this goal, the retailer had been implementing energy-saving strategies in their existing and new store designs since the 1990s. However, they faced challenges in managing their path to net zero. They were using utility bill data, engineering estimates, and energy modeling to plan, implement, and validate capital investments in energy-consuming assets and confirm ongoing operational efficiency. However, they lacked clear benchmarks for success. Additionally, they were deploying significant refrigeration equipment as part of their strategy to bring fresh groceries to every store, but they did not have a portfolio-wide view of energy-consuming assets to measure the full impact on energy usage. They needed an enterprise platform that provides asset-level, real-time data to support this deployment.

Five Star Call Centers, a leading call center outsourcer for customer care, faced a critical challenge with their power supply. The company had built a solid reputation for providing consistent, reliable, and friendly customer care, and any loss of power could severely disrupt their business. To prevent service disruptions, the company had an uninterruptible power supply on-site, as well as a backup generator. However, the generator was rarely used and incurred monthly expenses for its maintenance. The company needed a solution that could turn this idle resource into a revenue-producing, grid-interactive asset.

The Source, Canada's largest tech retailer, was facing a multitude of challenges common in the retail industry. The rise of digital marketplaces, increasing customer expectations, and shifts in customer behavior were all contributing to the need for improved operational efficiencies and customer experience. The Source was also grappling with rising utility rates across its hundreds of locations in Canada, leading to significant increases in utility costs over the past few years. The company needed an IoT solution that could provide real-time control and insight into energy usage to maximize savings. The solution had to be scalable to allow remote control of multiple locations and had to be installed with minimal disruption to customers and staff.

A national movie theater chain with several hundred locations across the US faced unique energy use challenges due to the nature of their business model. The theaters operate with large square footage, offer showtimes from morning to midnight, and have multiple screens in operation simultaneously. The chain was tasked with maintaining a comfortable environment across multiple rooms in large buildings while balancing energy and facility costs. The brand had also acquired new locations that had no HVAC control systems, leading to severe humidity issues, uncomfortable temperatures, and additional facility maintenance costs. The theater chain sought a single turnkey solution across its locations that could provide detailed information on theater operations and insights into their HVAC issues and site energy consumption. They needed to reduce energy costs, standardize HVAC control systems, and correct uncomfortable humidity levels without a major capital investment.

In quick-serve restaurants, numerous energy-consuming assets such as HVAC units, kitchen equipment, and indoor and outdoor lights are critical for the successful operation of the business. These assets often run throughout the day to maintain normal operations and ensure customer comfort. However, without a comprehensive energy management system (EMS), there are missed opportunities for energy savings. TOMS King, an energy-conscious quick-serve restaurant operator, recognized this challenge and sought to identify savings opportunities through increased visibility into energy consumption, detailed analysis of trends and issues, and more intelligent control over HVAC and lighting. The challenge was initially addressed at six Burger King restaurants in April 2013, and once successful, the solution was extended to their entire restaurant portfolio.

Raul Dominguez, a Wendy’s franchise owner in south Florida, was grappling with the escalating cost of energy. The need to manage energy use and operational expense was a pressing issue for Dominguez and other franchisees in the region. Quick-serve restaurants, especially those located in warm climates like South Florida, consume a significant amount of energy. These establishments face unique challenges, including high-temperature broilers and other cooking equipment that generate substantial heat, commercial-grade refrigeration for safe food storage, and robust HVAC systems to ensure a comfortable customer experience. Dominguez, along with several other Wendy’s franchise owners participating in a regional council, volunteered to test various energy management strategies to address energy consumption, manual system overrides, and equipment monitoring.