Chipotle Plans Major Solar Power Initiative

Chipotle Plans Major Solar Power Initiative
October 27, 2009

Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill announced that it is partnering with Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy (SRE) to install solar panels on approximately 75 Chipotle restaurants over the next year. In all, Chipotle has committed to panels that will produce 500 kilowatts of electricity, making Chipotle the largest direct producer of solar energy in the restaurant industry. Solar panel installations are already underway in select cities, including Denver, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. Markets and restaurants where solar may be used is based on a formula that includes a restaurant’s electricity consumption, local utility solar rebates, and its access to direct sunlight. The intent of Chipotle’s solar initiative is to reduce the restaurants’ traditional energy consumption during peak hours for energy use (from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.), when pressure on the energy grid is greatest. The amount of power produced through the solar program will eliminate more than 41 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. “Our effort to change the way people think about and eat fast-food began with our commitment to serving food made with ingredients from more sustainable sources, and that same kind of thinking now influences all areas of our business,” said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. “Today, we’re following a similar path in the way we design and build restaurants, looking for more environmentally friendly building materials and systems that make our restaurants more efficient.”

In addition to this new solar panel initiative, Chipotle was the first restaurant ever to receive Platinum level LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Gurnee, Ill., restaurant that features an on-site wind turbine and an underground cistern to harvest rainwater for irrigation. Chipotle also has a LEED-certified restaurant in Long Island, N.Y., and a third restaurant that is pending certification in Minneapolis. All of Chipotle’s new restaurants include some environmentally friendly materials or systems, including low-VOC paints and sealants, recycled drywall and stainless steel, photocell light controls that regulate electric lighting based on availability of natural lighting, or low-E window glass that helps reduce heating and cooling needs.