A High Energy Diet: The Impact of Lifestyle Changes on Energy Consumption in Food Sales and Food Service

Panel: Human and Social Dimensions of Energy Use: Trends and their Implications

Authors:
Sarah Black, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Abstract

The most recent data on energy consumption in commercial buildings (EIA 2006) indicates that commercial food sales and service account for 11.6 percent of all commercial building energy consumption or the equivalent of 678 trillion Btu of combined site electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and district steam or hot water in 2003. This figure represents a 45 percent increase over 1995 and EIA projections forecast an additional 20 percent increase by the year 2020.

Moreover, when compared to all other commercial building types, food service buildings have the highest energy intensity (260,000 Btu per square foot). This high level of intensity is roughly 2.8 times the energy intensity of the average commercial building. When measured as a function of hours of operation, the energy intensity of the food service industry exceeds that of all other commercial buildings, averaging more than 50 Btus per square foot per hour.

This paper explores the relationship between shifting demographic patterns and lifestyle change on the one hand and changes in food-related energy consumption on the other. For example, how do changing age structures and household composition correspond to eating patterns and the growth in restaurants? How do urbanization and urban sprawl contribute to the construction of ever-larger supermarkets? Finally, how does the shift toward dual-income families, single-headed households, and changing leisure activities shape time use and food consumption patterns? The answers to these questions are likely to have important implications for energy consumption in food service and food sales.