Meritage Hospitality Group, a Wendy’s franchise, will deploy smart building technology firm GridPoint’s platform at 345 of its restaurant locations. The technology will deliver energy efficiency and resiliency to the firms and the power grid.
The smart building solution, powered by deep data and powerful analytics, will provide visibility into energy usage at the building level. The platform will enable customers to automate and control their assets. Moreover, the firm will be able to generate additional revenue by making its sites grid interactive so the aggregated energy from small energy reductions across the commercial buildings can be leveraged as an energy resource to support utilities.
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The work with Meritage Hospitality Group started in February 2021 with a five-site pilot. The aim during the pilot was to reduce energy usage by at least 10% and provide detailed reporting and analytics. The pilot was successful and a Florida site achieved 23% energy savings, according to the release.
“During our pilot with GridPoint our locations saw an immediate reduction of energy consumption and we discovered a correctable equipment issue causing excess, avoidable energy costs,” said Greg Corr, Executive Vice President at Meritage Hospitality Group. “They helped us optimize HVAC run-times and electrical demand to make our restaurants more efficient while also ensuring comfort for our customers and employees. Ultimately our partnership with GridPoint results in lower energy and operational costs, more resilient buildings, and more sustainable franchise to support continued growth of the Wendy’s brand.”
