McDonald's – Jia Jiang – 2018

Goals

As one of the world’s largest restaurant chains, McDonald’s has over 2,800 outlets in China. McDonald’s China had already implemented a variety of technical measures aimed toward that achieving that goal. In order to further reduce energy consumption, the company enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Jia Jiang to assess and quantify behavior energy saving potentials and make recommendations on improvements to staff operations.

Solutions

Jiang first focused on fryers and grills, the two most energy-consuming systems in the kitchen area. Through site visits, staff and supplier interviews and data analysis on the Energy Management System (EMS), she identified that covering fryers during both preheating and idle pattern could reduce energy consumption by nearly 50%. She also optimized the start/stop time of certain equipment to align with restaurant opening and peak hours.

Finally, she compiled a new version of McDonald’s electronic engineering manual which summarizes key points of design specification, procedures of installation and construction and maintenance guidelines.

Potential Impact

With a small up-front investment, Jia made a strong business case for these projects which have an NPV of $6.43 million. The projects could also reduce electricity consumption by 13.7 million kWh and carbon dioxide emissions by 9,660 metric tons.