McDonald’s rewarded with stars for going green

Kilsyth South McDonald’s is the first Australian restaurant to be recognised with Green Star certification. The establishment has been awarded a 4 Star Green Star - Custom Design rating for developing a new benchmark for the design of environmentally sustainable restaurants.

McDonald’s Kilsyth South achieved the Green Star certification by including a range of sustainable initiatives, including energy-efficient lighting and mechanical systems, a rainwater capture system for irrigation and to flush toilets, solar panels and the use of more sustainable building materials including recycled concrete and steel. The restaurant also features low-VOC paints to improve indoor environment quality and drought-tolerant landscaping.

Establishing best practice benchmarks for the industry, McDonald’s worked closely with the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) throughout the design and construction of the Kilsyth South restaurant to develop a specially tailored custom Green Star rating tool.

GBCA Chief Executive Romilly Madew said, “This is the first time we have worked with a brand in the food and beverage industry and we congratulate McDonald’s for taking the industry lead to create a custom-built Green Star rating tool.”

“Restaurants previously fell outside the scope of the Green Star rating system, so the collaboration with the GBCA now means that McDonald’s can join the league of Green Star leaders,” said McDonald’s Kilsyth South licensee Howard Armitage.

“We understand the importance of adopting environmentally friendly initiatives and procedures for the benefit of the communities in which we operate and are thrilled to achieve the first Green Star rating for a restaurant in the country,” Armitage added.

“We applaud McDonald’s leadership for creating higher benchmarks for restaurants’ sustainability across Australia and we look forward to seeing more quick-service restaurants follow McDonald’s lead,” concluded Madew.