CASE STUDY

Taco Bell Blazes A Trail PG&E programs help Taco Bell earn California's first commercial solar water heating incentive

PRB Management [PRB] is a franchisee group that has managed a total of 50 Taco Bell restaurant locations in Northern California since 1984. When twenty-year contracts on its Albany and Rancho Cordova stores came up for renewal, PRB evaluated each of them for a facilities upgrade.

The company opted to tear down the buildings and erect new ones, which gave them the opportunity to improve the sites' energy performance, lower their energy costs, reduce their carbon footprint, and demonstrate their commitment to environmental leadership.

Finding a Use for Renewable Energy Initially, the company e)(plored the possibility of installing solar photovoltaic levi panels to generate electrical power. PV panels proved notI! FK L to be feasible since the size of the panels which would be required to meet each restaurants-1, . m needs would exceed the space available on the roofs. Architectural firm Vincent Murphy, Inc. helped PRE discover anotherway to incorporate clean, renewable solar energy-as the primary source ofwater heating.

Each restaurant uses about 500 gallons of water per day for cooking, cleaning, dishwashing, sanitation and restrooms. Health and sanitation codes require that restaurants maintain precise water temperatures, resulting in a relatively large amount of Not water usage for each restaurant. This made both sites ideal candidates fora solar water heating project.

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Nesxt Steps

Project Cost PG&E/CSI Thermal Incentive Est. Annual Natural Gas Savings Emissions Avoided Annually

To learn more about how the California Solar Initiative Thermal Program and PG&E programs can help your business reduce energy consumption and costs, contact your PG&E Account Representative, call our Business Customer ServiceCenter at 1-800-468-4743, or visit www.pge.com/solarysavings.

The Solar Solution The solarwater heating system installer placed two collectors on each restaurants roof, providing both locations with 80 square feet of solar surface area connected to a il9»gallon storage tank. The equipment utilizes an active closed loop system; fluid is pumped through the rooftop solar collectors, then a heat exchanger is used to transfer the collected heat to the water in the tank. This method provides protection against freezing, overheating and water scaling. The installations also include back-up hot water heating and control panels for real-time monitoring of system energy usage. Each system offsets over 300 therms of natural gas usage for heating water.

"We don't have a construction manager. It was important to us that the project be a 'turnkey' deal. We haven't had to think about our system, and we haven't had any problems with it."

DAVE FULWILER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PRE MANAGEMENT

RealResuHs Both projects earned incentives from Rancho Cordova Albany -|PG&E through the California Solar $14,271.09 $13,630.70 Initiative [CSI] Thermal Program. The Albany location also earned a Certified $4.353 $4,025 Green Building designation from the City ofAlbany. PRE Management plans a 343 therms 314therms major remodel or rebuild for all of their stores, at the rate of 2 or 3 peryear for .013 lbs. 3.674 lbs. the next 12 years.

Dave Futwiler, 13935 Managing Director, says, "We don't have a construction manager. It was important to us that the project be a turnkey' deal. We havent had to think about our system, and we havent had any problems with it."

To learn mo t hoW the Ca lIfo rn Ia Solar I n ItIatIve Therma l program a ndPG& E pro gramS ca n help your b uSIneSS red uCe energy conSumptI o n a nd coStS

Cont you r PG& E Accou nt RepreSentatIve ca ll ou r BuSIneSs customer ServIceCen at orv IS It

Photos by Jaffa Orange Photography

"PG&E" refers to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation. © 2012 Pacific Gas and Electric Company. All rignts resewed Tbese offerings are funded by California utility customers and administered by PG&E under tbe auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. PG8<E prints its materials with soy-based inksé on recycled papen6 October 2012 CDG-07l2-M56

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