Now we’re talkin’…we can officially combine two of my favorite things.  A steak burrito bowl [with cilantro rice, black beans, lettuce, pico, a little cheese (I'm lactose intolerant but i cheat), and a small side of sour cream (so i can mix that great chipotle Tabasco in it)] with green energy.  This new Chipotle will open in Gurnee, Illinois featuring a six-kilowatt wind turbine that will help the smell of all that wholesome goodness to filter throughout the city.

“The wind turbine is a symbol of our intent to design and build our restaurants more efficiently and environmentally friendly,” Steve Ells, founder, chairman and CEO of Chipotle said. “We want to incorporate some elements of sustainable design into all of our new restaurants.”

In addition to the wind turbine which will generate about ten percent of the restaurant’s electrical power, the free-standing restaurant will feature:

– use of recycled drywall, recycled barn metal, and primers and paints that contain fewer chemicals;

– a variety of energy and water conservation elements inside the restaurant, including LED lighting, highly efficient faucets and toilets, and Energy Star rated kitchen equipment;

– a 2,500 gallon underground water cistern that will harvest rainwater to irrigate the landscape;

– native plants outside that will require less watering and fertilizer;

– and asphalt in the parking lot that will reflect the sun’s heat, rather than absorb it, making the entire site cooler.

Chipotle will seek LEED certification for the new restaurant, which would make it among the first LEED-certified restaurants in the country. Chipotle is a participant in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Retail pilot program.

Tags: Chipotle, wind turbine

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 am and is filed under Going Green, Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.