Energy costs in food delivery calculated
1980
Clancey, Lena | Cowell, Robert
A hospital food delivery system must be energy efficient and cost efficient, especially considering the high costs of electricity and heating. When Lincoln (Neb.) General Hospital had to replace its food delivery system in 1977, dietary personnel complained that the hospital's heated-refrigerated food carts were awkward, difficult to sanitize, energy inefficient and hard to maintain properly. They surveyed and tested several food delivery systems over a four month period, and narrowed the acceptable systems to a hot-cold cart system and a unitized heated-base system. Trays of food were tested for temperature at the tray line, on nursing units immediately after arrival, 10 minutes after removal from the cart, and 20 minutes after removal from the cart. Then, the hospital's energy management committee calculated the energy costs and the 10-year life-cycle costs of both systems using tabulated energy formulas. The hospital concluded that the unitized heated-base system would be more energy efficient than hot-cold carts.
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