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Golden Corral Franchise to Install Efficient Energy America's Intelligent HVAC Control System in 30 Stores

By: Golden Corral |  1 Shares     309 Reads

Company expects to lower electricity costs by as much as $252,000 annually

May 17, 2011 // Franchising.com // Wilmington, N.C. – Efficient Energy America, Inc. (E2America) today announced that Platinum Corral, a multi-state franchise operator of Golden Corral Buffet-Grill restaurants, has signed an agreement to install E2America's intelligent HVAC control system in all 30 of its stores. E2America's automated, self-refining, wireless, retrofit system allows Platinum Corral to reduce both gas and electricity costs, usage and carbon emissions. As the company installs the E2America technology in all of its locations, Platinum Corral expects to lower its electricity costs by as much as $252,000 annually.

Typically, HVAC systems account for a large portion – in many cases, more than 50 percent – of the total energy used by commercial buildings. As energy costs and consumption have continued to rise over the last several years, Platinum Corral had implemented simple measures in an effort to reduce its utility bills, including scheduled and preventative maintenance on its HVAC compressors. Yet the company was not seeing a significant savings, and was typically paying around $9,000 per store every month for gas and electricity costs.

Platinum Corral initially installed the E2America system in five of its Golden Corral restaurants, and immediately saw its electricity bills decrease by as much as $700 per store each month. Because the E2America technology is retrofitted, Platinum Corral was able to install the system directly to its existing HVAC units, which included various brands and ranged in age from one to 25 years. The company expects to see a return on investment in approximately 18 months – much faster than other sustainable energy technology.

"As our electricity costs continued to rise year after year, we knew we needed a more aggressive energy efficiency program to see any significant reduction in our usage and costs," said Billy Sewell, president of Platinum Corral. "It took us a very short period of time to see the benefits in the five initial stores, and to realize how much more we could be saving by implementing E2America's system in all 30 of our restaurants. What's more, managers in the first five stores have reported that the temperature consistently feels more balanced, and therefore much more comfortable for our staff and guests."

E2America's system is able to ensure maximum thermal comfort in all areas of a commercial building because the technology not only considers the environment inside a building, but also considers the environment a building is in. It is the only system that takes into account 19 variables, including external weather data, internal and external humidity, solar heat load and building occupancy to continually monitor, control and optimize the operation of the building's HVAC systems.

E2America also worked with Platinum Corral's utility providers to ensure that the company was able to take advantage of incentive programs offered to businesses that implement energy efficiency measures. Platinum Corral expects to qualify for a $5,000-$8,000 electricity company rebate per store for installing the E2America technology. Additionally, federal legislation changes regarding capital expenditures and accelerated depreciation allow Platinum Corral to write off 100 percent of the remaining balance on its 2011 tax returns. This reduces the effective ROI to less than eight months.

"With no end in sight for rising electricity costs, commercial enterprises in all industries have begun to realize that more needs to be done to reduce their energy costs and usage," said Dara O'Neill, E2America CEO. "We're pleased to help Platinum Corral not only save money on its electricity costs, but to also help better optimize its HVAC systems and provide its customers and employees with a more comfortable environment."

About Platinum Corral

Platinum Corral was founded in 1996 as a multi-unit franchise operator of Golden Corral Buffet-Grill restaurants. The company has become one of the largest, most progressive and fastest growing operations in the system with units in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

About E2America

E2America's intelligent HVAC control, optimization and real-time reporting systems go far beyond traditional energy management systems to reduce electricity costs, usage and carbon emissions for commercial enterprises. The only fully-automated, wireless, retrofit technology to deliver cash-positive results from day-one and ROI within 18 months, E2America systems are installed in leading restaurant and retail chains, as well as other commercial buildings across the U.S. The E2America intelligent Smart Grid efficiency technology reduces energy consumption (kWh) and demand (kW) of each facility through management of the HVAC equipment, which draws the heaviest electrical loads. Each solution is custom designed and built for that particular application, and no training is required. Because the systems are entirely wireless, installation takes only hours. E2America is a Trade Ally with many utility companies, including Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, Progress Energy, Duke Energy, GreenCo and ElectriCities. The company is headquartered in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.e2america.com.

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