Last week, IoT-centric news involving American-Chinese cuisine restaurant chain Panda Express popped up in our news feeds. Being someone who has certainly enjoyed their fair share of Panda’s orange chicken and fried rice (as well as their sweet fire chicken breast and chow mein or brown steamed rice, depending on the day), the headline caught my eye – a tasty culinary-IoT news mish-mash, if you will.
The news: Panda Express expanded its partnership with GridPoint, a cleantech and intelligent software company that specializes in decarbonizing commercial buildings and accelerating transitions towards sustainable energy alternatives. With its smart building technology platform that connects energy grids with distributed energy resources, GridPoint can integrate with existing building assets to help facility managers in optimizing every aspect of their buildings – from measurably reducing carbon emissions to managing peak demand, and plenty of other in-between goals made possible via smart modernization.
Back to the partnership at hand: Panda Express (with upward of 2,500 locations and more than 50,000 associates) will deploy the GridPoint Intelligence solution in all of its U.S. locations over the next 18 months. This will, according to the official announcement, “optimize energy consumption, reduce energy costs and ensure that all restaurants remain at maximum temperature comfort for guests and associates throughout varied climate conditions year-round.”
Panda’s new deployment of the GridPoint Intelligence solution follows its 200-store pilot phase. As GridPoint CEO Mark Danzenbaker put it, “We’ve long admired Panda Express’ commitment to continuous innovation and operational excellence. Thus, Panda’s selection to implement GridPoint across all its restaurants is even more meaningful because they centered this decision around what is best for their associates and guests. This technology-driven approach will maximize their energy efficiency across the board, and we’re especially proud to partner further with them in addressing global energy goals – one building, guest and associate, at a time.”
James Ku, Chief Development Officer at Panda Restaurant Group, also added, “We have long sought solutions that can deliver data-driven insights, automated energy efficiency and immediate savings by monitoring and controlling energy consumption within our facilities in real time. That’s why we’re excited to partner with GridPoint to roll out their energy management system across our store portfolio. Optimizing our buildings in this manner frees up time and resources for our associates to continue prioritizing our core mission, which is to deliver exceptional dining experiences for our guests."
For further information on exciting and energy-conscious IoT developments, consider attending IoT Evolution Expo 2024, part of the ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW being held February 13-15 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.