The Wendy's Company: Energy performance

Better Buildings Challenge Partners strive to decrease portfolio-wide source energy use intensity (EUI) and to increase the percent improvement compared to a set baseline. The Wendy's Company portfolio consists of more than 300 corporate-owned buildings and over 1.2 million total square feet. Wendy's corporate-owned restaurants participating in the Challenge have improved energy performance per transaction by 9% from a 2012 baseline*, making progress towards a goal of 20% by 2025. Energy savings has been achieved by remodeling restaurants, installing LED parking lot lighting, upgrading interior lighting, completing walk-in cooler/freezer motor upgrades, installing HVAC control systems, and implementing an energy awareness program focused on low-cost opportunities for savings.

*Wendy’s has improved energy performance per square foot by 17% from the 2012 baseline.

Looking at the percent improvement in energy performance across all facilities can provide insight into how an organization is saving energy. The Wendy's Company has achieved energy performance improvement of greater than 10% at 83 of its corporate-owned restaurants. Further energy reduction is expected with the continuing remodeling of restaurants, energy efficiency upgrades, and operational focus on energy savings.

Property-level energy performance metrics, including EUI and percent improvement to date, are critical to track progress over time and identify opportunities for additional energy savings. The Wendy's Company portfolio consists of properties with a range of baseline EUI values, most of which are from 15 to 30 kBtu/transaction. The majority of properties have shown energy improvement since 2012. The properties located near or below the 0% axis may present good opportunities for further savings.

Better Buildings Challenge Partners strive to decrease portfolio-wide source water use intensity (WUI) and to increase the percent improvement compared to a set baseline. The Wendy's Company has improved water performance by 25% from a 2018 baseline, surpassing its goal of 20% water savings by 2029. Significant water savings has been achieved in recent years by converting to automated dishwashing equipment at restaurants and by completing a pilot project to install smart irrigation systems.