Commercial Cookery IV: Analyzing & Improving Resource Efficiency

This report provides a detailed analysis of environmental resource efficiency within the context of a Commercial Cookery IV course. It begins by outlining relevant Australian environmental regulations and initiatives for waste reduction and resource management, specifically focusing on their applicability to the tourism, hospitality, and event industries. The report then delves into measuring current consumption levels of water, electricity, and gas, alongside inspecting equipment, lighting, recycling provisions, and waste collection practices. A physical inspection of waste categories is conducted to determine approximate percentages. Furthermore, the report identifies potential environmental and occupational hazards encountered during the resource analysis and sets efficiency targets based on the findings, considering work processes, industry schemes, technology, and best practices. The final section presents an environmental resource efficiency improvement plan, detailing its purpose, overview, and strategies for managing water, waste, premises, and energy consumption to enhance environmental and financial sustainability. Desklib offers a wide array of study resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to support students in their academic endeavors.

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CERTIFICATES IV IN COMMERCIAL COOKERY
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
University

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Part A
A. Legislation and sources of information for resources and initiatives
1. There are a number of environmental regulations that apply in Australian Local
government area and they include the following; Approval of all activities in the local
government so as to ensure a great impact of protecting the environment. The activities
include the following, clearing of the environment, changing or destruction of water flow and
many others1. The Australian EPBC Act provides the basic information regarding laws and
regulations of all environmental activities. In addition, the Australia Biodiversity
conservation and Environment Protection Act of 1999 considers it an offense for anyone who
takes an action that is likely to cause an impact on the environment, unless an approval is
obtained from the Ministry of Environment.
2. In Australia, there are a number of initiatives and resources that have been put in
place to help businesses reduce their waste and use resources more efficiently. In addition,
the initiatives help in identifying and improving the environment by reducing costs and
improving productivity. To note, the efficiency of resources is often the fast and cheap way
of solving environmental problems as minimizing waste will reduce costs and size of
disposal. The resources and initiatives implemented in Australia include the following;
Improve storage, this involves making an evaluation to determine the business needs to
implement the environmental waste reduction processes or improve the current programs. In
1 Armaroli, Nicola; Balzani, Vincenzo. "Towards an electricity-powered world". Energy & Environmental
Science. 2011. 4 (9): 3193. doi:10.1039/c1ee01249e

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this case, assessment of water is a tool that is used to determine the stream of wastes. In
addition, the assessment of wastes provides a clear idea of how much and what is going to be
discarded and how the disposal should be done. Therefore, waste assessment information
provides the basic ways of planning to reduce wastes and improve the practices of managing
wastes in a business.
Environmental conservation, this involves the reducing energy use in households that
range from simple equipment to extensive materials. The initiative is aimed at protecting the
areas environment and saving utility bills. The initiatives involve the adjustment of daily
behaviors so as to reduce the consumption of energy in homes2.
Reducing air and Odor emissions, this initiative involves closing windows and doors the
business premises in case odorous materials are being used. In addition, it also involves the
reduction of solvent quantities and volatile materials that are used in the business. In order to
effectively work with odorous materials and solvents, the business should use spray booth or
fume so as to limit the number of vapors that are exposed to the area.
3. The initiative that can be used in the Tourism, Hospitality and Event industry is
preserving waterways. The initiative involves monitoring of all the waterways so as to
ensure that there is no flooding in the area which might affect the tourism industry.
Therefore, the initiative has very many resources and they include the following;
 Prevention of sediments forms different construction area that enters storm water drains.
 Identification of storm water drains with an intention of reducing discharge to a nearby
creek.
2 Fthenakis, V.; Kim, H. C. "Land use and electricity generation: A life-cycle analysis". Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews. 13 (6–7): 1465. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2008.09.017.2009

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 Ensuring that the water streams such as wash pads, filter separators, and many others are
not joined to drains of storm water.
B. Measuring current consumption and identifying existing procedures of work
practices and purchasing
1. Water meter
Quarterl
y Period
Variance
Water
Use
kL/period
Aver
Daily
Use
Cost of
Water
per kL
Sewage
Disposal
Costs
Connectio
n Fees
Target Variance
1 month 120 80 $0.234 $0.100 $0.108 $0.300 $0.250
2 month 150 100 $0.234 $0.250 $0.200 $0.650 $0.600
Electricity
Month Invoice
#
Amount Peak
Off
Peak Total Total
for
Month
Target Variance
Jan 200 $0.345 300 400 800 1600 $0.350 $0.800
Feb 500 $0.550 350 500 850 1900 $0.350 $1.200
Gas reading

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Month Invoice # Amount $ Total Total for
Month
Jan 3 $0.120 $0.320 $0.940
Feb 2 $0.130 $0.450 $0.900
2. Create a table or list and enter: all equipment and appliances used in one specific
department (for example Kitchen, F&B etc.), and measure the consumption of
electricity as listed on the appliance labels.
Type of equipment Use Kw/h Day/ hours in use
Blender Cook tail 1500 1hr/day
Oven Cooking 2000 1hr/day
Fridge Frozen food 2300 1hr/day
Iron T-shirt, trouser 2510 1hr/day
3. Measure the flow rate for water of various taps using the formula “Flow rate =
Volume/Time (L/min)”
12 Min water shower rate = 15Liters/Minute3
15litters/1 minute = 180 Litters/12 minutes
180Litters /12minutes = 15litters/minute.
3 Holte, Laura L.; Doty, Glenn N.; McCree, David L.; Doty, Judy M.; Doty, F. David . Sustainable Transportation
Fuels From Off-peak Wind Energy, CO2 and Wate. 2012.

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4. Inspect the type of lighting used and determine the KW/H (1000 Watt = 1 KWH)
used in that department based on typical or given workplace practices during
operation.
The type of lighting used is HID lightening.
150 watt HID that uses a total of 150 watts
Energy that is Saved per hour (kWh 1000- kilowatt hours) = 1000 - 150 = 850 watts saved/ hour
Peak Demand- Energy Savings (kW) = 850 kilowatts of maximum light that is required at a time.
5. Inspect the provisions for recycling.
Recycling involves various requirements such as; providing various recycling systems with
numerous recycling materials for employees, customers, and many others, minimizing the
consumption rate by using limited appliances, educating other members concerning power
consumption and maintaining all appliances in a good working condition4.
6. Determine the intervals of waste collection and determine the size of the cubicle(s)
used
4 Lynn R. Kahle, Eda Gurel-Atay, Eds. Communicating Sustainability for the Green Economy. New York:
M.E. Sharpe. 2014. ISBN 978-0-7656-3680-5

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7. This task is performed outside: Wearing gloves and using tongs, physically inspect
the contents of garbage bins from your department and inspect the approximate
waste for each category (Glass, paper, cardboard, green waste etc) and express these
in percent (approximately).
Waste category Approximant waste (%)
Glass 40%
Paper 60%
Cardboard 60 %
Green waste 50%
8. Determine the energy consumption ratings, use, and settings of air conditioners and
heaters where applicable and document the potential KWH usage for these units.
The air conditioner consumes an average of 228 kWh each month. In addition, the air
conditioner consumes an average of 318watts. Heaters have an energy consumption rate of
10,000kwh.

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9. Determine the resources required for any plants, landscaping or outside areas as
relevant.
The resources required for any landscape, plant or outside areas include the following;
groundcovers, well-placed trees, and shrubs. The resources help in reducing the cost of using
energy at home, removing air pollution, increase comfort, produce oxygen and reduce the
amount of carbon dioxide. In addition, the resources help in saving energy that plays an
important role in reducing the demand for fossil fuel and refining costs5.
10. List the purchasing strategies which are currently in place including
environmentally sustainable approaches; carbon footprint considerations (for
example use local supplies from growers etc.)
Environmental purchasing refers to the way of inclusion of the environmental factors concerning
the purchase of services and products. The purchasing strategies currently in place include the
following; waste reduction, reduction of environmental packaging impacts, environmental
reporting, and reduction of greenhouse and energy emission.
11. Identify any workplace environmental and occupational hazards you may encounter
during your resource analysis.
During the resources analysis, I may encounter the following occupational and environmental
hazards, machinery, hazardous substances such as fumes, biological wastes, skin injuries,
electricity, and many others.
5 Morelli, John. "Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals". Journal of
Environmental Sustainability -Volume 1. Rochester Institute of Technology. 2011.

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12. Identify any breaches or potential breaches for environmental practices you have
encountered in the audited area during your project and outline the issues.
During the projectI have encountered a number of breaches such as; slipping, tripping and
falling, body stressing, struck by a sharp object which led to injuries. The breaches led
C. Setting efficiency targets
1. Analyse the results you have obtained for use of resources and compare these results
against
Work and workflow processes: – which improvements could be made?
The improvement could be made on the usage of energy consumption appliances so as to
minimize energy cost.
Industry Schemes: – How do your results compare?
The results obtained indicate the various environmental resources that have been sued to
reduce on various problems affecting water and energy consumption
Technology: – Are you using efficient technology?
The technology that is currently being used is not efficient
Resources: – Is there a benefit of switching e.g. from electricity to gas in some areas
or using other measures?
There are great benefits of switching for electricity to gas in some areas because
electricity is too expensive for some people mostly those who are over consuming it.
Best Practice: – Are there recommendations from manufacturers or bodies that
recommend particular practices?

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Yes, there are some recommendations from bodies or manufacturing indicating the use of
gas and other particular practices.
2. Set your targets in a table or spreadsheet based on your findings of the analysis.
Usage of resources
Practices Months Percentage
Energy consumption 4 80%
Waste disposal 3 60%
Water disposal 4 50%
3. Provisions for communication
To ensure effective communication, I will make sure that all the stakeholders are informed in
time about what needs to be addressed. In addition, various matters that will be discussed will be
outlined such as the need for energy improvement, water disposal, bin management, and many
others.
Part B
Environmental resource efficiency improvement plan
Introduction

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An environmental resource plan refers to the practical guide that assists various
businesses to be more environmentally and financially sustainable with the help of improved
resources. The plan is based on the three major principles and requires a joint approach to ensure
that there is the management of water, waters premises, and water. Therefore. The plan explains
the basic ways that will be used to solve issues concerning water, waste premises and energy. In
addition, the plan involves the examination of business operating systems so as to obtain wide
knowledge about the problems in the environment. Further, the plan is based on formulating the
continuous approaches that can be used to manage the environment. Therefore, to ensure an
effective development of the plan, a range of environmental factors will require examined so as
to support efficient resources in the business6.
Purpose
The purpose of the environmental resource efficiency improvement plan is aimed at
improving the different approaches that can be used to manage the resources of the environment.
In addition, the plan is aimed at examining a variety of factors that can efficiently support the use
of resources in a given business.
Overview
In order to ensure an efficient environment resource improvement plan, a number of
issues have been undertaken such as, the benefits that may arise as a result of improved
environmental performance, the management of wastes as a way of proper business
management. In this case, a number of wastes that are produced in business are considered so as
6 Peterson, Kristen. "The reliability of wind power". Minnesota Daily.2012.

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to understand those that can be prevented. In addition, good energy management practice has
also been looking at such as the use of oil,gas and electricity so as to estimate the total amount
spent. In this case, it is very important to monitor the usage of electricity by regularly reading a
meter and comparing use and production.
In order to achieve a better plan for improving environmental resources efficiently, a
number of resources have been looked at as such as improvement of storage, assessment of
wastes, determining streams of water and business needs. To ensure an effective implementation
of the target resources, a number of activities will be performed such as reducing environmental
cots of water conservation and management, management and monitoring of all the energy
resources such as oil, and gas.
In order to ensure that all the staff members comply with the environmental requirements,
they will be taught on various resources and initiatives of environment. In addition, the staff
members will be taught how to handle various environmental issues such as waste of energy.
Therefore, it will be the responsibility of every staff member to ensure that the environmental
requirements are achieved.
Potential savings that can be achieved over time
Use of 10 light bulbs each at 0.080 kWh in the kitchen can be used instead of 10 energy
saving LED bulbs that are rated at 0.013 kWh. An energy saving rate of 10*58=0.580 kWh x
$0.1335/hour or $0.1335 x 10 = $1.335/day
Periodic communication provisions.
Monthly communications between colleagues will always be made so as to ensure if
there is an adjustment or progress energy saving. In addition, communication will be done so as