Making Conservation as Common as McDonald's

The fast food chain could be a LEEDer ... or not

By Jeff Kart Mon Apr 25, 2011 09:03

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 Exterior shot of a McDonald's in Dallas, Texas shaped like a Happy Meal box.
Courtesy McDonald's Corp.

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California | Electricity | Green Building

Ronald McDonald is on his way out, you may have heard. It's high time that a corporation stopped using a clown to market to kids, right? That doesn't mean my kids still don't ask for McDonald's, and that I don't cave in once in a while. What if, however, true green practices and conservation were as common as McDonald's? The burger (and increasingly gourmet coffee) chain is starting to construct more energy efficient, LEED-certified buildings.
Does this make McDonald's the next green giant? Not really. San Francisco has banned Happy Meals. One study found that a cheeseburger, French fries, and Sprite has half a day’s calories and saturated fat, and about two days’ worth of sugar.
But, again, what if. As explained by GreenSource, which covers the world of sustainable building: The latest green McDonald's in Riverside, California, is slated for gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program.
The restaurant features fried foods an Energy Education Dashboard to educate customers on real-time energy use and other features of the building. The Riverside location would be the fourth LEED-certified McDonald's in the United States. But the company is exploring LEED construction in spots throughout the country, according to GreenSource.

The United States, visualized by distance to the nearest McDonald's, as of September 2010.
Credit: Stephen Von Worley and AggData.com.
The company website proclaims that McDonald's is Greener Than Ever, mentioning LEED restaurants and other company buildings. The company says "sustainable building enhancements" made during the LEED certification process have helped cut energy use to "its lowest level in five years."
You could scoff at this and say, "Well, McDonald's is just dipping its toe in LEED to appear greener." Probably true. Of course, it takes incremental steps, and if one company can set an example, and save money and resources in the process, then maybe others will follow.
Imagine if. McDonald's operates more than 31,000 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 1.5 million people. C'mon Ronald.