Pizza Hut franchisee American West Restaurant Group to use IoT technology to deliver energy savings

American West Restaurant Group (AWRG), the third largest Pizza Hut franchise in the US, has reported that it is generating savings by using the Internet of Things (IoT) to help with energy management.

The quick service restaurant (QSR) company says that it aims to save $2mn through energy efficiency at its 250 Pizza Hut restaurants over the next five years.

AWRG has partnered with UTX business arm, EcoEnergy Insights, to implement the programme which “integrates buildings across borders” and generates energy savings.

According to statistics from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "restaurants can use up to 2.5 times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings" noting that as energy costs rise, investing in energy efficiency is the best way for businesses to tackle these costs.

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EcoEnergy Insights works to provide sustainable solutions for enterprise-wide energy operations and efficiency management.

Working across industries like hospitality, telecoms and water utilities, the business claims to have used Big Data to deliver a total of over 800mn kWh of energy savings to its customers.

American West Restaurant Group — who operates brands such as Muscle Maker Grill, Fresca’s Mexican Grill and Jojo's Pizza Kitchen — said that it will implement the IoT solutions in hundreds of locations in California and Utah, USA.

In 2015, the firm set itself a goal to reduce its monthly energy use by 15%. Initially, the programme has been tested across eight restaurants with monthly savings reaching as high as 18% in some cases.

Jerry Ardizzone, President of AWRG, said: “We were convinced the answer was in advanced analytics, not in retrofitting, as in, modification to existing restaurants that may improve energy efficiency or decrease in energy demand.”