One industry that we don't hear a lot from in the corporate Green Wars is the fast food industry. Or at least I haven't heard much from the big three -- McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's -- much less the smaller chains that dot the on-ramps to the freeways and interstates that flow across the United States like oily veins. So imagine my surprise when I ran across this interesting little tidbit of information. A newly-built McDonald's restaurant in, of all places, Pensacola, Florida has installed a geothermal heat pump system for the building's heating and cooling needs.

Neat. 'Bout time a corporation with not only a gazillion restaurants, but also a rather symbolic global presence, is looking into other options than fossil-fuel-fed energy. From a local Florida news site:

The geothermal heat pump is touted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy as a superior energy efficient, environmentally friendly heating and cooling system. And now a local McDonald’s is evaluating this “green” system as a corporate model. Owned by John and Susan O’Connor, this will be the first McDonald’s restaurant in Florida with geothermal heating and cooling when it opens later this year. Gulf Power Company and McDonald’s Corporation will monitor the system the first year of operation to determine specifications for the most energy efficient system to meet McDonald’s needs as well as energy savings. Once the perfect energy efficiency “recipe” has been determined, geothermal could become just as popular for the Golden Arches as their famous burgers: “Billions of hamburgers served; Billions of kilowatts saved”. -- EmeraldCoast.com

Naturally, I poked around a little for more information about this very special McDonald's.

The restaurant will utilize geothermal energy gathered by a heat pump system throughout 55 holes, each 350 feet deep. The underground loops use water or other liquids to transfer heat from the earth to buildings when it's cold, and to move heat from buildings to the earth in hot weather. Geothermal systems can cut up to half of energy costs and have a projected life of more than 50 years. While the Pensacola McDonald's will be the first Florida restaurant in the chain to use geothermal power, the claim of first McDonald’s ever to use geothermal goes to a Westland, Mich., location, which in late 1997 was built with geothermal heat pumps. The restaurant’s geothermal system was made up of 32 holes drilled 200 feet into the ground. The restaurant also was built with efficient lighting, sensors to dim the lights when daylight’s available, energy-efficient motors in the cooking fans and heavy insulation. -- GreenBiz.com

Hey, how about that? Michigan is my home state. Yay Michigan! But wait a minute. That little caveat in the article makes me wonder why McDonald's hasn't used the Westland, Michigan store as a "test case" and switched over to geothermal previous to now. That heat pump system was installed in 1997, so more than ten years have gone by before another foray into geothermal. Did that first system not provide enough evidence that using the stable temperature of the Earth to heat and cool a commercial building is a better choice for the rest of the franchises? Cool Companies, a website ran by the non-profit Center for Energy and Climate Solutions had a little something about this particular McDonald's and the energy savings it has achieved.

McDonald's installed a geothermal heat pumps at a restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Westland, Michigan, cutting energy costs 20 percent compared to a conventional system. The heat pumps are connected to a heat exchanger consisting of 32 holes drilled 200 feet into the ground. It can simultaneously cool the kitchen and heat the dining room. Working with Detroit Edison, McDonald's used a number of advanced energy efficiency technologies, including efficient lighting, occupancy sensors, and photoelectric sensors to dim the electric lights when daylight is available. Windows are triple-glazed, motors in the cooking fans are energy-efficient, and the building shell is heavily insulated. The combined result is a 40 to 50 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to a typical restaurant.-- Cool-Companies.org

You would think that a savings of even the low-end estimate of twenty percent would be enough of a case for Mickey D's to start installing these new-fangled heat pumps (that have been around since the 1940's incidentally) into all, or at least most, of the new restaurants being built not only here in the US, but across the globe.

Geothermal or not, the industry ain't good

But other than one lonely pilot store that is LEED-certified in Georgia, I cannot find any more information about McDonald's moving into alternative energy sources for its franchises. And still, it just seems odd that a decade has passed since the first geothermal system. And then I found this. From a Detroit Free Press article that announced the opening of the Michigan McDonald's waaaay back in 1997:

MCDONALD'S WILL TEST GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM When it opens in December, a McDonald's restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Westland will be the first in the chain to use a geothermal heating and cooling system. If the prototype is successful, the company could roll out the system chain-wide. Instead of a furnace, air-conditioner, and water heater, the system will use the earth's constant temperature to heat, cool, and provide hot water for the 3,600-square-foot restaurant without flame or fossil fuels. A solution of water and environmentally friendly antifreeze in an underground pipe absorbs the heat of the earth. The temperature in the pipe remains steady at about 50 degrees F. Pressurizing the solution raises its temperature to over 180 degrees. Reversing the process cools the solution, returning its heat to the earth. McDonald's decided to try the system to save money on its utility bills, says director of operations Dave Daniels. — Detroit Free Press, October 17, 1997, by Deborah Solomon.-- Greenclips.com

Will this time be different, McDonald's? This is what happens when I get excited about a huge corporation possibly maybe moving in the right direction.

Further Reading:

• Fast Food, Faster Climate Change
• The Food Revolution: Once Upon a Planet, Part I
• Food Revolution: Reversing the Spread of Hunger, Part I
• Old McDonald Had a Factory
• Is Eating a Steak Bad for the Climate?
• Are You Paying to Burn the Rainforest?
• What the Meat Industry Doesn’t Want you to See
• Livestock - Public Enemy Number One?
• Earthlings
• Geothermal Energy - Could Power The USA For 30,000 Years