MCDONALD’S GREEN REVOLUTION: A CASE STUDY
By Septembre Anderson
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
McDonald’s has always been on the forefront of innovation. Responsible for introducing the revolutionary “Speedee Service System” – the basis of all quick service restaurants – to the fast food industry in 1948, and opening the first drive-thru in Sierra Vista, Arizona, the hamburger giant has made every effort to remain ahead of the pack.
With the ‘green’ movement building steam, McDonald’s felt it was time to take its dedication to environmental and social responsibility to the next level. On Aug. 8, 2008, the signature restaurant chain opened its first corporate-owned ‘green’ restaurant in Chicago.
Eight months later the new restaurant, dubbed a ‘learning lab’ by Max Carmona, senior director of restaurant design for McDonald’s USA, received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification through the LEED for Retail pilot program.
The prototype restaurant was conceived and built as an educational tool with the purpose of helping McDonald’s designers better understand how sustainable and environmentally-friendly designs, practices and technologies could be adopted in new and existing restaurants.
FROM THE GROUND UP
When McDonald’s decided to build its ‘green’ restaurant it left nothing to chance. McDonald’s hired sustainable design firm, Phoenix Architects Inc., to design the new facility and utilized the expertise of McDonald’s sustainability manager and LEED-accredited professional, John Rockwell. Even the location, the city of Chicago, was carefully chosen.
Why?
Two reasons:
- The mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, is very open and supportive of green design and has founded initiatives like the City of Chicago Green Permit Program; and
- The design team wanted a location near McDonald’s headquarters in Peoria, Illinois, so they could be close to, and involved in, the project
LEARNING LAB HIGHLIGHTS
While Energy Star certified equipment and compact fluorescent light bulbs have become household and retail norms, McDonald’s Chicago restaurant has taken ‘going green’ a step further.
Sustainable features include:
- Permeable concrete paving units in the parking area that reduce energy use by minimizing the amount of storm water released into the city system.
- Native drought tolerant landscaping, which needs little irrigation and less maintenance thereby reducing energy and potable water use.
- A storm water management system that collects roof rainwater, equipment condensation and reverse osmosis discharge, which is then reused thereby reducing the use of energy intensive potable water.
- A vegetated green roof that collects storm water and highly reflective white roof lined with TPO membranes (single-ply roof membranes made from ethylene propylene rubber), which reduces the energy use of the building.
- High efficient rooftop mechanical equipment and boiler, which reduces overall energy use in addition to improving thermal comfort.
- Skylights that increase penetration of natural light while reducing energy use during daylight hours.
- High efficient interior and exterior lighting, such as LED fixtures and signage, dimmable T5 and compact fluorescent lamps as well as occupancy and daylight control sensors.
- Green interior décor package, which improves the indoor environment by reducing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and reduces landfill waste through the use of recycled and renewable materials.
THE FUTURE
With more than 31,000 restaurants worldwide McDonald’s uses an enormous amount of resources. Annually, the restaurant chain consumes $1.7 billion worth of resources internationally and spends an additional $1.3 billion on waste management.
By combining energy efficiency and sustainable packaging with waste management strategies McDonald’s is striving to minimize its environmental footprint. The Chicago ‘green’ McDonald’s restaurant is equipped with systems that continuously collect data, which the design team uses for comparative analysis. To date, the green “learning lab” has reduced its water usage by 50 per cent and its energy usage by 25 per cent when compared to similar locations.
And McDonald’s hasn’t stopped there. It has taken its “learning lab” concept and applied it to a second restaurant, which opened in Cary, North Carolina, this summer, and has plans to increase the number of ‘green’ establishments to 10 worldwide, including a location in Canada, by year’s end.
