BACKGROUND
The Amaize restaurant in Doral, Florida is the flagship
store in a planned chain of fast casual eateries
serving Latin-inspired gourmet food. Located just a
few minutes from Miami, the 2,760 square-foot store
serves an average of 3,300 arepas– the restaurant’s
signature dish– on a daily basis. As the Amaize team
developed its franchise model, CEO Karen Armando
Cohen made a conscious decision to serve as a
leader in environmentally-friendly restaurant design
and operation. As a baseline goal, Amaize set out to
cut at least 20 percent of the Doral store’s total
energy use, and to use the building as a model for
future locations. To support these lofty sustainability
initiatives, restaurant owners first installed energy saving
electric burners in the kitchen and
implemented a comprehensive recycling program.
The next step was to tackle one of any commercial
building’s biggest energy hogs: lighting.
CHALLENGE
In the average restaurant, lighting accounts for approximately 13 percent of total energy use. To mitigate
energy consumption and electricity expenses, Cohen and his team looked to LED solutions. Compared to
traditional options, LEDs consume up to 85 percent less energy while also delivering a longer lifespan than
incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs. It was also important to find an LED supplier with the breadth
of products required to achieve optimal lighting conditions in each area of restaurant. For example, the
kitchen needed bright working conditions for its staff, while the dining room had to maintain a warm, inviting
ambiance for patrons.
SOLUTION
In April 2015, Amaize connected with Conexsol, a Miami-based
distributor/ EPC company specializing in improving customers’
profitability through energy efficiency, who recommended ReneSola’s
products for the job.
“With a variety of high-quality and cost effective lighting solutions in its
portfolio, ReneSola was the clear choice to meet Amaize’s unique needs,”
said Anthony Lopez, CEO of Conexsol. “The company’s affordable
prices, coupled with its unique policy of waiving all freight charges, also
allows us to pass along exceptional savings to our customers.”
The Conexsol team installed a total of 111 ReneSola LEDs across the
kitchen, dining and retail spaces. The installation process took just two
days, and was completed with no disruption to service hours.
RESULTS
To date, Amaize has achieved as much as an 80 percent reduction in lightingrelated
energy consumption. What’s more, the ReneSola and Conexsol
collaboration will yield a full return on investment in only eight months.
“We are thrilled with our decision to ‘go green’ with our lighting. With the
help of Conexsol and ReneSola, we’ve got a cost-effective LED package
that can be replicated across all our locations to conserve energy while
improving our profitability,” said Cohen. “We hope our sustainability efforts
help raise the bar for the restaurant industry and set a positive example for
the local community.”
The Amaize restaurant in Doral, Florida is the flagship
store in a planned chain of fast casual eateries
serving Latin-inspired gourmet food. Located just a
few minutes from Miami, the 2,760 square-foot store
serves an average of 3,300 arepas– the restaurant’s
signature dish– on a daily basis. As the Amaize team
developed its franchise model, CEO Karen Armando
Cohen made a conscious decision to serve as a
leader in environmentally-friendly restaurant design
and operation. As a baseline goal, Amaize set out to
cut at least 20 percent of the Doral store’s total
energy use, and to use the building as a model for
future locations. To support these lofty sustainability
initiatives, restaurant owners first installed energy saving
electric burners in the kitchen and
implemented a comprehensive recycling program.
The next step was to tackle one of any commercial
building’s biggest energy hogs: lighting.
CHALLENGE
In the average restaurant, lighting accounts for approximately 13 percent of total energy use. To mitigate
energy consumption and electricity expenses, Cohen and his team looked to LED solutions. Compared to
traditional options, LEDs consume up to 85 percent less energy while also delivering a longer lifespan than
incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs. It was also important to find an LED supplier with the breadth
of products required to achieve optimal lighting conditions in each area of restaurant. For example, the
kitchen needed bright working conditions for its staff, while the dining room had to maintain a warm, inviting
ambiance for patrons.
SOLUTION
In April 2015, Amaize connected with Conexsol, a Miami-based
distributor/ EPC company specializing in improving customers’
profitability through energy efficiency, who recommended ReneSola’s
products for the job.
“With a variety of high-quality and cost effective lighting solutions in its
portfolio, ReneSola was the clear choice to meet Amaize’s unique needs,”
said Anthony Lopez, CEO of Conexsol. “The company’s affordable
prices, coupled with its unique policy of waiving all freight charges, also
allows us to pass along exceptional savings to our customers.”
The Conexsol team installed a total of 111 ReneSola LEDs across the
kitchen, dining and retail spaces. The installation process took just two
days, and was completed with no disruption to service hours.
RESULTS
To date, Amaize has achieved as much as an 80 percent reduction in lightingrelated
energy consumption. What’s more, the ReneSola and Conexsol
collaboration will yield a full return on investment in only eight months.
“We are thrilled with our decision to ‘go green’ with our lighting. With the
help of Conexsol and ReneSola, we’ve got a cost-effective LED package
that can be replicated across all our locations to conserve energy while
improving our profitability,” said Cohen. “We hope our sustainability efforts
help raise the bar for the restaurant industry and set a positive example for
the local community.”
