Green restaurant in Chicago, Illinois
McDonald's France Beaugrenelle restaurant in Paris
Greener confines – Making our restaurants more sustainable
Beyond our food and its packaging, the places where our customers enjoy our food – our restaurants – have impacts on the environment as well.
McDonald's already has green components in our existing restaurant standards, but we strive for continuous improvement. So we are working to enhance our currently strict building standards for our restaurants around the world. As these standards are being developed, several of our local business units, including McDonald's France, McDonald's Germany, McDonald's Brazil and McDonald's USA currently have plans in place to install and track the performance of new sustainable features to improve restaurant energy efficiency. Many markets are also already operating or planning to build and open restaurants that feature environmentally friendly attributes.
McDonald’s first green restaurant opened in Umea, Sweden in 2000, and in 2005, the first developer-initiated, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Core and Shell certified McDonald’s restaurant opened in the U.S. in Savannah, Georgia. In May 2008, McDonald’s France opened a rebuilt restaurant in Beaugrenelle, Paris with an array of environmental enhancements. In August 2008, McDonald's USA opened a new green restaurant that is targeted for LEED certification in Chicago, Illinois.
The full range and nature of green elements vary by location, but generally, our focus is on innovation and efficiency in the design and construction of the restaurant, reduction of energy and water use in equipment and operations, incorporation of green décor options in the restaurant, and features that enhance indoor air quality and promote natural lighting.
McDonald's Europe
A restaurant is currently under construction at Plaisance du Touch, near Toulouse, France for which accreditation is being sought under the French HQE classification system. The design of the restaurant has been developed to minimize disruption from architectural, sound and odor perspectives and it includes the use of renewable energy technologies such as solar hot water heaters. There is additional focus on natural resource conservation – specifically, reducing water use through waterless urinals and rainwater harvesting. The learnings from Plaisance du Touch will provide the basis for the establishment of a new set of guidelines for new restaurant development throughout Europe.
Guidelines for remodeled restaurants in Europe have been established and will be rolled-out shortly. The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that a set of minimum environmental standards are achieved on each project. They will also lead to development of a framework that will guide initiatives where the emphasis is primarily on reduction of energy and water consumption.
An increasing level of engagement with suppliers of materials and furniture will further enhance environmental performance. Examples include floor tiles with a high recycled content, laminates to use in place of wood veneers and lighting products optimized for maximum efficiency. Suppliers are pursuing other initiatives, including waste management and the use of alternative energy sources.
McDonald’s USA
McDonald's joined the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in early 2007 and is a member of the LEED for Retail Pilot Program. LEED is a nationally recognized green building rating system that outlines specific standards for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, material selection and indoor environmental quality. Along with other companies in the pilot program, McDonald’s has provided feedback from its green building learnings to the USGBC.
The overall goal of the U.S. green building strategy is to gain insight and experience while creating a green building design template.
The green restaurant in Chicago will advance this goal. Key elements in its design and operations include high-efficiency rooftop mechanical equipment and boilers, high-efficiency interior lighting with skylights and daylight controls, water conserving toilets and plumbing fixtures, a vegetated green roof, stormwater management with permeable parking lot pavement and rain gardens, high-efficiency LED lighting for exterior signage and the parking lot and green power purchased through renewable energy credits.
Other Green Restaurants on the horizon
Current plans call for opening green restaurants later this year and into 2009 in Brazil, Canada and France. These will provide even more information and best practices, allowing us to factor in additional environmental elements into new or existing restaurants.