The Food Service Technology Center (FSTC) is nationally recognized for its expertise in foodservice energy & water efficiency education, training, and testing. Our guests frequently include foodservice equipment manufacturers, reps, and dealers; restaurant owners, operators, and staff; institutional kitchen operators (e.g. universities, correctional facilities, etc.); foodservice designers and consultants; culinary educators and students; chefs and cooks from all backgrounds; and everyone in between.
The FSTC demo room is a 40-seat event space uniquely designed for the foodservice industry. The classroom features a fully-equipped commercial kitchen cookline, making it ideal for educational seminars, training sessions, and equipment demos.
Love it before you live with it. Bring your own ingredients and test drive new, high-performance kitchen equipment before you commit to a purchase. Give us a call today!
The FSTC presents educational seminars on many topics related to foodservice energy and water efficiency. We also provide hands-on, energy-conscious training to the industry.
The Center is available for your next foodservice event - whether it's a staff meeting, equipment demonstration, or menu showcase, the FSTC can be your host!
The appliance test lab is the nerve center of the FSTC. As an independent, fuel-neutral facility, we generate unbiased third-party data under tightly controlled conditions. Featuring 28 linear feet of exhaust hood and high-capacity gas and electric supplies, any appliance from the smallest countertop fryer to the largest roll-in rack oven can be tested. In operation for over 30 years, the lab is EPA-recognized and ISO accredited.
The lab is compliant with the rigorous ISO 17025 standard, and is accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) under certificate 3780.01.
We test compliance to numerous codes & standards, including California Title 20 and other state or federal commercial appliance regulations.
The FSTC tests appliances to verify qualification for utility rebate programs (California Energy Wise) and ENERGY STAR® certification.
The CKV lab is a custom-built environmental chamber specifically designed for testing commercial kitchen exhaust hoods and makeup air systems. Featuring state-of-the-art schlieren and shadowgraph visualization tools, airflow can be precisely monitored and controlled for both hood performance and capture and containment. The room also functions as a calorimeter, allowing measurement of the heat an appliance (or an appliance line) radiates to the surrounding space.
With advanced flow visualization techniques, the lab assesses ventilation hood capture & containment performance under varying conditions.
Our specialized schlieren and shadowgraph flow visualization systems provide images of the thermal activity along the perimeter of the hood.
The CKV lab measures heat gain to space for a range of hooded and unhooded commercial appliances.