Contact:
Beth Gargan, McKeeman PR
919.783.8621
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Stephanie Niblack, McKeeman PR
919.718.0016
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Locally-owned restaurant opens July 14, is one of three nationwide.

July 14, 2009

(Cary, N.C.) Today the state’s first green McDonald’s restaurant opened at 1299 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary, marking it as only the third of its kind nationwide to be built using eco-friendly materials and technologies. Development of the restaurant began in 2007 with McDonald’s Owner/Operator Ric Richards who wanted to refurbish the 25-year-old previous site building. As reconstruction options evolved, Richards said the environmental impact became clear: building a structure dedicated to sustainability would mean significant cost savings and reduced energy consumption.

“Even though the costs to build this McDonald’s were higher in the near term, we knew that going forward with this green initiative we would set the stage for more savings long-term, both financially and environmentally,” Richards said.

The green Cary McDonald’s joins only two other locations nationwide in the McDonald’s family recognized as green restaurants. The first opened in Savannah, Ga., in 2005 and the second green McDonald’s opened in Chicago in 2008, both restaurants are LEED®-certified.

Similar to previous green restaurant projects, the Cary location will serve as a learning lab intended to provide a better understanding on green technologies and how they may be applicable to new and existing restaurant designs.

Some of the green highlights that make this McDonald’s so unique:
• LED lighting fixtures, Solatubes and high-efficiency kitchen equipment
•Water-efficient restroom and kitchen fixtures
•Table and décor walls incorporating rapidly renewable materials like sunflower seed board, wheat board, bamboo and kirei board
•Building materials that feature a high recycled content
•Drought tolerant landscape plants with no permanent irrigation system
•Targeted for LEED-certification by the U.S. Green Building Council
•Educational touch-screen (Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard) in dining area informing guests about the economic and environmental benefits of the building, including local transportation information about pedestrian and bicycle paths as well as a green quiz to test users’ knowledge of the restaurant

A private grand opening at the restaurant is planned for 9 a.m. on July 14, and all customers are invited to visit the new restaurant beginning at noon.

“I am most looking forward to finally opening the doors to Cary-area residents,” said Richards. “We have received encouraging support from the community so far and I hope our customers are as excited about the green restaurant as I am.”

Richards said that the two-year green journey was further possible from the support his team received from collaborating suppliers, including Cree Lighting, NovaCharge, Quality Automation Graphics, Skanska and Solatube.