Ritu Primlane
Executive Director
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Ritu Primlane |
BERKELEY -- The only clue in the Raja Indian restaurant on University Avenue that shows attention to energy efficiency is the series of corkscrew-shaped, cool fluorescent lamps screwed into the track lighting sockets.
But there have been other changes, which are saving the restaurant a substantial amount in utility costs this summer: things like new refrigerator gaskets and devices to close refrigerator doors automatically.
It's all a result of an energy audit by an expert from PG&E, aided by volunteers from Thimmakka, an Oakland-based environmental group aimed at South Asians.
In the case of Raja, Bobby Bhatia, the owner's son, speaks perfect English and the restaurant had already become energy conscious before the audit. But Thimmakka executive director Ritu Primlane points out that many Asian restaurants are small operations with owners who are immigrants and don't speak English well.
"They can be very isolated," she said. "So our volunteers -- went around with PG&E to translate."
In Alameda County alone, the number of residents who are ethnically Asian has jumped 53 percent in the last decade to 295,218. Nearly 30 percent of the Bay Area's more than 1,000 restaurants are South Asian, Primlane said. Add Chinese and Japanese restaurants and you have 50 percent, she said.
Volunteers spoke Hindi, and the languages of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Burma and Tibet.
Primlane notes that the only similar non-English program is offered in Spanish by the Association of Bay Area governments. She said that once the idea of an energy audit was explained in the proper language, 80 percent of restaurants approached agreed to the audits.
Besides PG&E, City of Berkeley officials accompanied the volunteers on audits, making recycling suggestions among other things.
Charles Bohlig, the PG&E energy consultant who conducted the audits, said that many money-saving measures such as fluorescent bulbs and refrigerator gaskets can be big energy savers. The volunteers were also able to help restaurant owners secure energy rebates and signed them up to participate in the governor's 20/20 energy rebate program.
At Raja, Bhatia said replacement of high wattage bulbs with CFL lights and lower wattage regular bulbs, plus repair of a dimmer switch and a few other changes cut the restaurant's utility bill from $1,879 monthly to $1,789.
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