Fast food chain unveils new energy efficient restaurant in Germany

A new energy efficient fast food restaurant in Waghäusel, Germany, uses renewable energy sources to supply a third of its power.

Burger King made a pioneering step Monday by opening its first energy efficient restaurant. Located in Waghäusel, a town in southwestern Germany, the new restaurant was developed in conjunction with Wirsol Solar AG which utilized state-of-the-art technology and renewable energy sources in order to supply a third of the power needed by the restaurant.

The restaurant's design includes energy saving features such as:

• An interior heat recovery ventilation system which heats and cools the restaurant and saves 73 percent of energy consumption per year.
• Long-lasting LED bulbs located on the interior and exterior of the restaurant which save 55 percent of annual energy consumption.
• The new restaurant captures excessive heat loss using it to generate hot water, which conserves 50 percent of annual energy consumption per year.
• The traditional external Burger King logo has been modified to include a wind turbine, which supplies 2500 KWH of the restaurant's power supply.
• The restaurant is also fitted with over 720 solar photovoltaic modules which generate around 53,500 kWh of electricity per year, which, according to the US department of energy, is the equivalent annual power consumption of 5 US households.
• A solar paneled recharging station for electric cars.

Also, Burger King has included a rainwater reclamation system which is used for providing external irrigation.

Though other fast food restaurants such as McDonald's have implemented several energy saving measures Burger King's new restaurant is the first to apply renewable energy technology to an entire outlet.