Clean Energy Resources for Food Shelves

• Eliminate “day-burners.” Exterior and parking lot lighting should only be on at night. If they are on during the day, establish a practice of turning them off each morning or check for a failed or dirty light sensor.
• Consider using automated lighting controls. These best fit low traffic spaces with lights that are routinely left on (restrooms, storage areas, hallways, etc).
• Replace incandescent or fluorescent lighting. Consider opportunities to upgrade to LED lighting from incandescent and fluorescent fixtures in areas where the lighting is most used.

• LED lighting to replace inefficient incandescent lighting.
• Automated lighting controls:
  • Motion or occupancy sensors for low-traffic areas.
  • Daylight sensors to turn off exterior and parking lot lights during the day.
  • Timers to turn on or off lights under a set schedule.
  • Dimming controls in locations where natural lighting (windows, skylights, light tubes) is available or where less than full brightness is needed (hallways).

• Inspect doors and windows to find gaps or cracks. These air leaks can be weather-stripped, caulked, or filled with foam insulation.
• Use window shades to maintain indoor temperature. In winter, close shades at night and open shades on sunny days. In summer, close shades on sunny days.
• Keep doors closed to the outside. Also, keep doors closed to any areas that are not heated or cooled.

• Weather stripping or caulk to ensure cold air doesn’t slip through in the winter and hot air doesn’t slip through in the summer.
• Window film to put over windows to prevent cold coming inside in the winter.
• Window shades to block out the sun’s heat in the summer and retain building heat in winter.

• Stop using individual space heaters. While they seem like a solution to heating small spaces, space heaters are very inefficient and are a fire hazard.
• Regularly maintain your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. If you do not have staff trained to do this, have an annual maintenance contract to “tune up” HVAC during both fall and spring seasons.
• Replace furnace filters monthly. This will improve the efficiency of the furnace, extend its life, and reduce dust in the facility.
• Program your thermostat to heat or cool at specific times. A smart thermostat can be programmed to cool or heat spaces in advance rather than maintaining a constant temperature. 

• Smart thermostat to program your heating and cooling times instead of maintaining a constant temperature.
• Air source heat pump to replace or supplement your heating or cooling system.

Activate power management settings on computers. Other equipment like monitors, printers, and copiers may have these settings available, too.

Identify equipment left on overnight. Equipment left in sleep, idle, or “screen saver” mode still use energy. Form habits to turn off equipment when not in use.

Power strips to more quickly turn off many plugged-in devices at once at the end of a day.

Smart power strips to automatically turn off computer accessories (monitor, speakers, printer) once the computer is powered down.

• Set refrigeration to energy-saving and food-safe temperatures: 35-38° F for refrigerators and 0° F for freezers.
• Identify leaky refrigerator and freezer doors. Close the door on a piece of paper, if it is easily pulled out replace the seal/gasket.
• Check that refrigerator cooling coils are clean. Use a vacuum to remove built-up dust and debris at least once per year.
• Defrost the inside of your freezer or refrigerator. If your equipment regularly ices up, then at least once per year remove the food, unplug it, and leave the doors open to fully thaw out. Once all ice has melted, plug it back in and make sure it is fully cooled before putting food in it again.
• Move refrigeration units away from heat sources: heating system vents, radiators, cooking appliances, or even the sun’s warmth from a nearby window.
• Use the power saver feature on refrigerators when available.
• Unplug unused refrigerators or freezers. Be sure to prop doors open when unplugged.
• Use refrigerator anti-sweat feature only when necessary. This feature is only needed when there is high humidity in the facility’s air.

• Refrigerator/freezer thermometers to confirm the units are set to the correct temperature.
• Seals/gaskets to keep cold air inside the refrigerator/freezer.
• Open fridge covers to keep food cool outside of distribution times.
• Open door alarms to prevent cold air loss if the door is accidentally left open.
• Conductivity-based anti-sweat control to automatically shut off the anti-sweat device when not needed.