College Park-based Chick-fil-A says its newest restaurant in Texas is a laboratory for environmental innovations that could pop up in its other restaurants.
The 4,617 square-foot restaurant in Fort Worth would be the first Chick-fil-A restaurant designed to the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Chick-fil-A executives say they want the restaurant to be a testing ground to evaluate a variety of sustainability efforts. The company plans to open more than 75 restaurants this year.
The Fort Worth restaurant has low-flow fixtures in restrooms and the kitchen. A cistern the size of a swimming pool will collect rainwater to irrigate plants and landscaping, a step that Chick-fil-A says will reduce water usage by 40 percent. Skylights and energy-efficient appliances are expected to cut energy usage by 14 percent.
A fifth of the restaurant’s building material budget was spent on products with recycled content, and more than half of construction waste was diverted from the landfill. The restaurant is projected to have 30 percent more fresh air than typical buildings.
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