How good would a chicken (or veggie, if that’s your style) burrito bowl taste, knowing that it’s been cooked by the power of on-site green energy? I haven’t tried one yet, but I can only imagine … Chipotle Mexican Grill will be opening a green restaurant in Gurnee, Illinois, which restaurant features a prominent six-kilowatt wind turbine. Although mostly a symbol for the company’s efforts to create more environmentally friendly store designs, the turbine will generate ~10% of the store’s power. The Gurnee Chipotle will have some of the following green features:
- a 2,500 gallon underground water cistern to harvest rainwater for landscape irrigation
- energy and water conservation elements including LED lighting, highly efficient faucets and toilets, and Energy Star rated kitchen equipment
- use of recycled drywall, recycled barn metal, and primers and paints that contain fewer chemicals
- native plants outside that will require less watering and fertilizer
- asphalt in the parking lot that will reflect the sun’s heat, rather than absorb it, making the entire site cooler
Notably, as a participant in the USGBC’s LEED for Retail pilot program, Chipotle is seeking LEED certification for this location, making it one of only a few restaurants to do so. Chipotle also operates two green locations in Austin and is seeking certification for one restaurant in Minnesota.
[+] National Restaurant Company Launches "Green" Development
Photo credits: Chipotle Mexican Grill.
I love eating at Chipotle, they have really good “fast” crispy tacos. I’m mean sure they aren’t anything spectacular without guacamole, but for a fast food joint there’s nothing better around. I’m excited to read they are tying to be more eco-friendly in new developments. Thanks for the sharing the good news.
It’s great to see a fast food restaurant doing this! The place looks great, and so does that Proven wind turbine (which I think are the best in the world). Now that Chipotle is no longer owned by McDonald’s, maybe they can do something about the fat content in their burritos, too. 🙂
It’s pretty cool that they have a wind turbine. I’am doing a science project and I could give this as an example. Thanks a lot people!
7th grader,
Mikayla