HARvEST Systems Inc. is a start-up company based in Hamilton, Ontario focused on the integrating waste heat recovery systems for the full-service restaurant industry. The company grew out of the Thermal Management Research Laboratory at McMaster University. HARvEST is committed to the commercialization of the Pizza Oven Waste Energy Recovery (POWER) system within the food service industry.

The POWER system uses a PVR-sized thermoelectric generator that captures heat and converts it to electricity. That stored energy can be used to power lights, heat hot water and other uses. This saves businesses money by improving energy use and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The wide-scale adoption of the POWER system, and other waste heat recovery systems, within the restaurant market was being inadvertently hampered by current safety standards. As the practice of waste heat recovery is not uniformly defined across Canada, or North America, HARvEST faced varying entrance strategies for provinces and states.

SCC provided HARvEST with the support the company needed to navigate the standards development process. HARvEST was able to develop a standard to market their waste heat recovery system more effectively to restaurants across North America.