Dunkin' Brands – Muxi Yang – 2014

Goals

Muxi Yang was enlisted to help Dunkin’ Brands establish greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and improve energy efficiency of its franchisee-owned baking facilities.

Solutions

Yang spent her summer focused on three main tasks: Calculating the carbon footprint of Dunkin’ Donuts’ Central Manufacturing Locations (CMLs), benchmarking emissions and energy intensity and developing an energy efficiency improvement portfolio that outlined energy conservation and efficiency improvement recommendations.

The benchmarking analysis showed both a discrepancy in energy efficiency of CMLs and significant emissions reduction and energy cost savings opportunities. In the energy efficiency improvement portfolio, Yang detailed demand control ventilation, HVAC system optimization, LED lighting, kitchen equipment upgrades and preventive maintenance recommendations which could deliver significant financial savings and emissions reduction for the CMLs.

Potential Impact

Based on Yang’s analysis, average Dunkin’ Donuts’ CMLs have the potential to reduce annual electricity consumption and natural gas usage by over 200,000 kilowatt hours and approximately 2,800 therms respectively, cut energy cost by $26,000 annually, reduce emissions by 22 percent per year and realize a return on investment within three years.