Burger King Corp, known as Hungry Jacks in Australia, last week unveiled a restaurant partially powered by wind and solar energy.
Located in Waghäusel, Germany, the restaurant uses solar panels and wind turbines to provide one-third of the restaurant’s energy consumption and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1201 metric tonnes annually.
Part of Burger King’s BK Positive Steps(R) program, the restaurant features:
– Interior heat recovery ventilation system that will save 73 percent of related energy consumption per year
– LED lighting for exterior and interior applications, saving 55 percent of related energy use
– A wind turbine to power the exterior logo sign
– Over 720 solar panels generating in excess of 53,500 kWh of clean electricity a year
– A solar-powered electric vehicle charging station for hybrid cars
– A rainwater catchment system for the purposes of outdoor irrigation.
The restaurant kitchen features a Duke Flexible Batch Broiler, which will maximize cooking flexibility while reducing gas consumption and related costs by 52 percent and electricity consumption and costs by 90 percent.
Burger King says through its BK Positive Steps program, the company is committed to being socially responsible in all areas of its business – food, people, the environment and corporate governance. The company holds “Green Sessions” for employees, members of its supply chain and key third-party partners and says it is working with suppliers to find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. Globally, BKC has also committed to source beef that has been raised in environmentally responsible ways and not from recently deforested tropical rainforests.
