Air Management Technologies: ‘Our goal is to have a zero-energy bakery’

Scott Houtz told BakeryandSnacks.com: “Our goal is to have a zero-energy bakery. How close we can come to that will depend on the technology, but what you’re going to be seeing in the future is that heat will be recycled. And heat can even be used to produce electricity with different technologies and that will prepare the future for things such as solar and wind to help power the bakeries very efficiently.”​

The company was awarded for its spiral cooling system that uses outside air; cutting use by one-third compared to regular refrigeration and its oven heat recovery system recycles heat that would normally be wasted.

Houtz said that while energy savings vary in different bakeries, manufacturers could look to save more than $100,000 each year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1,000 tons.

“There is definitely some splits between the return on investment being the priority or of course sustainability trumping nit. What we’ve found is that many companies who typically have a two year return on investment, many times will extend that return on investment when there’s a green value there,”​ he said.

For more on this special edition:​

Baking NASA-style: Are reflective coatings the future for oven efficiency?​​

Energy efficiency: Cost first, carbon second​​

Retail wants green baking - and it wants it now, says BEMA​​

Innovative energy efficiency: Bakers aren’t fully on board yet…​​