by jbs030310 a3 — March 8, 2010—Darden Restaurants recently 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.
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 (USGBC). The company plans to apply learnings from those eight restaurants to new restaurants and remodels across its portfolio in the future in order to limit business impact on the environment while enhancing operational efficiency.
Olive Garden’s newest restaurant in Jonesboro, Arkansas, which was designed to achieve LEED certification, features a number of sustainable design elements. They include:
- Recycled building materials: sheetrock, doors, windows, etc. made from recycled content; carpet squares made from 100% recycled materials;
- Increased use of natural light: incorporating more windows more frequently into the building’s exterior, reducing the need for artificial light;
- Energy-efficient equipment and fixtures: Energy Star-rated equipment and low-flow water nozzles in the kitchen, automatic faucets in the restrooms, LED light bulbs; and
- Reclaimed heat: heat expelled from the condensing units of the HVAC system and the freezer/cooler condensing units is reclaimed and used to heat water.
In addition, Darden’s newly opened corporate headquarters facility in Orlando is on track to earn LEED Gold certification from the USGBC. It is reportedly the largest LEED Gold new construction project in the state of Florida.
