Nonresidential Commercial Kitchens UPDATE: DKV is no longer being considered for the 2025 code cycle.

Proposal Description

Foodservice buildings are one of the most intensive energy users in the commercial sector, with no statistically significant decrease in energy intensity in recent years. The Commercial Kitchens CASE Report presents two code change proposals to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in commercial kitchens along with justifications for each proposal.

Electrification Readiness

This proposal would require new quick-service (fast-food) and institutional commercial kitchens have the proper electrical infrastructure to convert to an electrified. The proposal would apply to pizza delivery shops, quick-serve restaurants, takeout eating places, and delicatessens.

This proposal would add a mandatory requirement that newly constructed quick-service and institutional commercial kitchens have the proper electrical infrastructure to convert to a future electrified cookline. The requirement would appear in the mandatory covered process section of code, Section 120.6(k). Covered kitchen facilities could still install gas cooking equipment, but electrical infrastructure would need to be in place when the building is first constructed to enable relatively simply all-electric retrofits in the future.

Demand for electric-ready products is increasing due to regulatory landscape, customer interest, and decarbonization goals. Electric-readiness requirements for single family and multifamily buildings in the 2022 code create a pathway for all-electric retrofits in the future. There is documentation of successful all-electric kitchens in California across a variety of foodservice kitchen types, including large quick-service chains Wendy’s and McDonald’s. Utility incentive programs promoted electric equipment and offsetting electrification costs. With increasing demand and industry interest in electric equipment, there needs to be a mechanism to remove barriers to electrification in commercial kitchens.

This proposal would not prohibit or restrict gas hook-ups or require all-electric cooking equipment but rather ensure that the infrastructure for future electrification is in place when new buildings are constructed.

Demand Control Kitchen Ventilation (DCKV)

The 2022 code includes prescriptive requirements for kitchen hood exhaust systems that apply to kitchens that have greater than 5,000 cfm total Type I (grease) and Type II (condensate) kitchen hood exhaust (Title 24, Part 6 Section 140.9(b)2B). If the exhaust airflow threshold is met, systems must comply with one of four compliance pathways:

1. Installing DCKV on 75 percent of exhaust air.
2. Use transfer air that would have been exhausted for 50 percent of the replacement air
3. Use listed efficient energy recovery devices on 50 percent of exhaust airflow, or
4. Use minimally cooled or heated air for 75 percent of the makeup air volume.

When the existing requirements were established, offering four options to comply provided multiple pathways for achieving energy savings in a manner most suitable for the facility. Over time the applicability of DCKV technology has broadened into a viable option for any new construction that would meet the 5,000-cfm threshold. DCKV is readily available for mainstream adoption and the remaining market and technical barriers are limited.

This proposal would move the kitchen ventilation requirements to the mandatory section of code. All systems of qualifying size would need to have DCKV, but options would remain to comply with either of the following two options instead of DCKV: using transfer air for at least 50 percent of replacement air or using a listed energy recovery device on 50 percent of the exhaust airflow.