Let’s face it, restaurants aren’t known as bastions of energy efficiency. Lights blaze, burners burn, high-powered exhaust fans suck heat and air-conditioning out the vents. And barbecue restaurants like Brian’s BBQ in DeLand have that extra element of burning wood all day and sending smoke up the chimney and into the atmosphere. Yet owner Brian Hill has plans to renovate his barbecue restaurant into the sort of place the Environmental Protection Agency could be proud of.

Going green is a buzz phrase being bandied about by businesses of all types, restaurants included. But most foodservice operations switch from foam boxes to biodegradable and compostable takeout containers and consider the conservation tree fully hugged. Hill believes there is a lot more that can be done, and he’s taking his restaurant to environmental extremes. And he’s getting a chunk of it paid for by a grant made possible by the City of DeLand.

Hill started out just wanting to upgrade the insulation of his barbecue restaurant, which was built in 1985, before energy efficiency was the priority it is today. But as he did his research, he realized that it didn’t make much sense to upgrade the insulation if you would still be losing energy through the windows. And the old roof. And why keep an inefficient air conditioning unit? Conventional lights produce a lot of heat and consume a lot of energy. Switching to LED lighting with solar cells seemed a good idea, too.

Hill soon found that what he thought would be a quick insulation job that might run $8000 was turning into a complete facility overhaul approaching almost 18 times that amount.

Then he heard that the City of DeLand had received federal funds to spend on projects to promote energy efficiency. In a rare move, the city was making a portion of the funds to private businesses. Hill applied for and received a grant. Bob Turk, economic development director for the city, says the funds were part of the federal stimulus that was allocated specifically for improving energy efficiency. The funds have been approved for new roof, air-conditioning and facade at Brian’s BBQ, he says.

Hill started to look at other ways to green his business, and he turned to Chris Lewis of Tampa-based EcoGreen Hotel for advice. Lewis says he counseled Hill on ways that he could reduce the restaurant’s burden on the power grid and still be a profitable business.

One of the area’s for improvement that Hill has considered is his water usage. He is investigating capturing rainwater for reuse for flushing toilets, mopping floors and irrigating the landscaping. (The landscape will need less water because Hill’s plans include converting to a Florida xeriscape layout.) This is known as gray water, and Hill says the whole subject is something of a gray area. There are understandably concerns about reuse of such water — filtering for use in a dishwasher, for instance, is currently out of the question. But Hill hopes that local authorities, which generally have the power to rule in such matters, will OK his plans. Besides rainwater runoff from the new roof, the water that is generated by the air conditioning system could also be harvested, says Hill.

Then there is the issue of heating water. Brian’s BBQ already uses an efficient tankless system, but Hill believes there is a way to make it even more productive. “Restaurants generate a ton of heat,” says Hill. “In a barbecue restaurant, we have a particular advantage: we build fires every day.” Hill believes that such a low-tech solution as running the water pipes through the barbecue pit could heat the water for use in the restaurant, though the problem may be in getting the water too hot.

Hill is also considering converting the engines of his diesel-fuel delivery trucks to run on spent fryer oil, a resource of about 50 gallons every week. He currently sells the used oil to someone who converts it to biofuel, but thinks the engine conversion may be the way to go. Also, a rejiggered generator could produce electricity from the grease.

Not everything involved in making a restaurant greener has to do with energy consumption, at least not directly. One of the factors that Green Restaurants Association (dinegreen.com) considers when evaluating a restaurant for certification is the restaurant’s use of local, sustainable food. Food is considered to be local if it is sourced from within a 100-mile radius; food from within a 300-mile radius is called regional. Food that has to travel farther than that requires more energy and fuel to get it to the final destination. Florida restaurants are hampered by a limited number of producers. Barbecue restaurants in particular have to rely on meat products that are often sourced from producers in Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas, well outside the 300-mile radius. But Hill says he does what he can.

And what about the issue of burning wood in his meat smoker? Hill argues that at least the wood is a renewable energy source. And he suggests that what is emitted by a barbecue restaurant is no worse than what is sucked up through the exhaust vents at any other restaurant.

Hill doesn’t claim to be an expert on the subject of greening a restaurant. “I’m just a guy who’s going through the journey of researching these things,” he says. “I’m learning as I go, and I’ll probably make mistakes.” So he’s open to suggestions on how to proceed. He welcomes ideas from Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association allied members who have energy efficient solutions as well as from diners who have a good thought. He invites everyone to leave notes at a Facebook page he has set up for the restaurant’s renovation process at  facebook.com/briansbbq.

Next issue: The progress report.

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