New Restaurants Go Green

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October 7, 2:26 PM

by Shelley Owens, Restaurant Examiner

 

 

Chipotle Mexican Grill, a quick-service chain based in Denver, and a Denny’s franchisee are both building green restaurants in Illinois.

Both are seeking certification by the US Green Building Council “LEED for Retail: New Construction Pilot” program. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a third-party, national certification of a building’s energy efficiency.

According to a report in CoStar’s Retail News Round-up, the Chipotle, which is being built in Gurnee, Illinois, will include recycled drywall and barn metal. About 10 percent of its electrical power will be generated by a six-kilowatt, on-site wind turbine located on-site helping to run LED lighting and Energy Star-rated kitchen equipment. And a 2,500 gallon underground water cistern will hold rainwater to irrigate native landscape plants. The restaurant will also feature low-voc (volatile organic compound) paints, efficient faucets and toilets and a reflective asphalt parking lot.

Chipotle is also seeking LEED certification on a new restaurant in a shopping center in Minnetonka, Minnesota and will use sustainable design features in all new restaurants in the future.

Other restaurant owners are also following LEED guidelines.
According to a story in Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), Denny’s franchisee Joey Allen Terrell is building a LEED certified store in Joliet, Illinois. Terrell, who received a 30 percent discount on permit fees from the City of Joliet as a green building incentive, estimates he will save about $4,000 per year on operating costs just by using a computer-controlled fryer.

Terrell told the NRN that the energy-efficiency items he chose were the “low-hanging fruit items, things anyone can do at little or no cost.” He included roof and wall insulation, natural lighting from south-facing windows and ceiling skylights, LED lighting and low-flow toilets and faucets to reduce water consumption.

This Oregon project shows a few of the sustainable features of a LEED certified building:

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