Kitchen lab creates right environment

29 June 2011

Halton inaugurated its advanced kitchen indoor environment laboratory in Béthune, France. The laboratory is dedicated to research and development as well as customer simulations

Halton’s kitchen ventilation laboratory is unique in Europe by recreating the working conditions of a full-scale kitchen. It allows to implement simulations on a large variety of commercial kitchens equipped with canopies, ventilated ceilings and / or totally customised solutions whether they cover cooking appliances powered with gas or electricity.

Béthune indoor environment laboratory is equipped with an advanced data acquisition technology enabling a reliable measurement of the energy consumption as well as the comfort criteria. In addition, the laboratory is equipped with a Schlieren system. The technology, developed by NASA, allows visualisation of the heat generated by cooking appliances and how efficiently it is captured by the kitchen exhaust system.

Halton has a network of five indoor environment laboratories on three continents. These laboratories allow Halton to innovate, adapt systems to local market demands and to perform comprehensive indoor environmental testing and analysis.

Three of Halton’s indoor environment laboratories, including the new Béthune facility, concentrate fully or partially to Foodservice solutions. In Foodservice solutions Halton has concentrated on energy efficiency and comfort. As an example, Halton introduced an innovative Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV) system, called Halton M.A.R.V.E.L., that cuts commercial kitchen energy consumption by up to 50%. The system has been recognised with four innovation awards.

Innovation in the catering field is all the more important so, according to a report published by the World Business Council for Sustainable Develoment (“Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Transforming the Market”), catering is the most energy consuming activity among all commercial and residential buildings with 800 kWh/m², far ahead healthcare.