STORES Magazine - April 2009 - (Page 42) NUTS AND BOLTS / SUSTAINABILITY also is exploring the composting of restaurant waste; it is currently being done in Northampton. Following the advice of sustainability and restaurant experts, Yum! created a “green transformation” plan for the Northampton unit. “We look to our first green restaurant as being a nextgeneration design for our U.S. and global operations,” Sherman says. Air, water, wood, light There are four key areas to the design. The carbon footprint is reduced by using solar energy to preheat fresh air entering the building, purchasing renewable energy credits and utilizing more energy-efficient kitchen and building equipment. Salvaged rainwater irrigates and waters plants, and plumbing fixtures with reduced water-consumption rates were utilized. Building materials with recycled content and sustainably harvested wood were used in construction, and lighting efficiency was enhanced through the use of sunlight in the restaurant and LEDs to brighten parking areas and signs. A number of the features at the Northampton unit were designed with associates in mind, including increasing the amount of natural light via skylights, a less labor-intensive oil recovery and distribution system and an enhanced employee lounge. Yum! Brands has extensive plans for a green future. For example, it plans to reduce energy usage by 12 percent in domestic company-owned restaurants by next year. “Our team is looking at the next iteration of the green building,” Sherman says. “We also have some new green building processes going on in and outside the U.S. We are heavily looking at this next generation of restaurants.” The company plans to issue CSR reports every two years; the next one is due in 2010. StORES D. Gail Fleenor, a Virginia-based freelance business writer, has nearly 20 years experience in retail and consumer research. WWW.STORES.ORG energy use. The council then designs, tests and deploys programs to grab these opportunities. The company’s Energy Procurement Team considers buying green power (solar, geothermal, wind) wherever possible. Yum! recently opened its first restaurant to meet LEED certification standards. The Northampton, Mass., KFC/Taco Bell runs on purchased green power. “In the U.K., we have restaurants that are purchasing green power to cover about 20 percent of their power, and our operators in China are looking at this as well,” Sherman says. Yum! Brands currently recycles waste at 62 percent of its U.S. restaurants. “Most is done in the back-of-house,” Sherman says. Cooking oil is being recycled at all Yum! restaurants and converted into biofuel or glycerin for personal hygiene products. 42 STORES / APRIL 2009 Biodiesel pioneer Sol Yoshida, a KFC franchisee in Japan, has been recycling cooking oil for conversion to biodiesel in 60 of his restaurants for more than 10 years and his store in Nagano City is believed to be the world’s first biodiesel-powered restaurant. Yum! Brands picked Yoshida’s brain to learn how he recycles and whether his methods might be adaptable to U.S. operations. “We revere him as someone who is not only paving the way for KFC and Yum! Restaurants, but also for the quick-serve restaurant category,” Sherman says. Other recycling efforts focus on cardboard or other packaging. “We’re looking at every piece of packaging such as pizza boxes and asking, ‘What is the impact of this one box?’ We’re not only taking a holistic view but conducting an individual piece examination.” Yum! http://WWW.STORES.ORG
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.