Chipotle plans major solar power initiative

Chipotle solar initiative expands renewable energy with rooftop solar panels, LEED-certified design, energy efficiency, and utility rebates, cutting CO2 emissions and peak grid demand while lowering operating costs across Denver, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio.

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced it is partnering with Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy to install solar panels on approximately 75 Chipotle restaurants over the next year.

In all, Chipotle has committed to panels that will produce 500 kilowatt hours of electricity, reflecting a broader solar trend across industries, making Chipotle the largest direct producer of solar energy in the restaurant industry.

"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, much like giant retailers pursuing solar, looking for more environmentally friendly building materials and systems that make our restaurants more efficient."

Solar panel installations are already underway in select cities including Denver, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, as companies explore rental solar panels to manage costs as well. 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.), a pattern reflected in top solar trends this year, 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 CO2 emissions.

"Chipotle has recognized an eco-friendly method of reducing its operating costs, a path also taken by call centres adopting solar, while reducing its carbon footprint," said Standard Renewable Energy CEO John Berger. "By applying solar, each individual restaurant will be decreasing its reliance on the local grid and fossil fuels and supplementing it with clean, renewable energy. This is just another way Chipotle is leading the restaurant industry in sustainability."

In addition to this new solar panel initiative, and as companies like Green Mountain Coffee expand their solar footprints, Chipotle was the first restaurant ever to receive Platinum level LEED certification - the highest level - 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, and echo moves by McCormick to add solar, 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.

Chipotle's pursuit of more sustainable building options is an extension of a philosophy it calls "Food with Integrity" that has the company pursuing ingredients from more sustainable sources. This commitment has led Chipotle to serve more naturally raised meat (from animals raised in a humane way, never given antibiotics or added hormones, and fed a pure vegetarian diet) than any other restaurant company. It also maintains significant commitments to serving organic and locally grown produce, and cheese and sour cream made with milk from cows that are never given the synthetic hormone rBGH.

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