From Green Right Now Reports
Darden Restaurants today announced that it has begun a system-wide sustainable restaurant design initiative involving the use of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards in its restaurant design process for all new restaurants and, where feasible, restaurant remodels.
The company, which operates 1,800 restaurants, said the initiative is part of its broader sustainability efforts aimed at limiting business impact on the environment while also enhancing the operational efficiency of its restaurants.
Darden’s three largest brands – Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse – are designing eight restaurants to achieve LEED certification from the United States Green Building Council. The company said it plans to apply learnings from those eight restaurants to new restaurants and remodels in the future.
“Our goal with this initiative is to utilize each of the eight restaurants as a learning lab,” Suk Singh, senior vice president of Development for Darden, said in a statement. “While we may not seek LEED certification for every restaurant we build or remodel, we can make a positive impact by learning from the eight restaurants where we are seeking LEED certification and applying best practices across our entire portfolio.”
The Olive Garden in Jonesboro, Ark., which opened for business last month, is the first of eight restaurants the company is designing to meet LEED standards. It features a number of sustainable design elements, including:
- Recycled building materials – Supplies such as sheetrock, doors and windows were made from recycled content. The flooring features carpet squares made from 100 percent recycled materials.
- Increased use of natural light – Incorporating more windows more frequently into the building’s exterior reduces the need for artificial light.
- Energy efficient equipment and fixtures – Items such as Energy Star rated equipment and low-flow water nozzles in the kitchen, as well as automatic faucets in the restrooms, reduce energy and water usage. New LED light bulbs that utilize seven watts of energy and last up to 50,000 hours replace bulbs that used 75 watts and had to be changed two to three times a year.
- Reclaimed heat – To supplement the heating of hot water in the kitchen, heat expelled from the condensing units of the HVAC system and the Freezer/Cooler condensing units is reclaimed and used to heat water.
Darden, the world’s largest full-service restaurant company, recently opened its new corporate headquarters facility in Orlando which is on track to earn LEED Gold certification from the USGBC. It’s the largest LEED Gold new construction project in the state of Florida.
In addition to Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, Darden operates The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.