New restaurant is first casual dining eatery in U.S. to receive LEED certification ORLANDO, Fla., June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Olive Garden restaurant in Jonesboro, Ark. has recently been officially awarded Silver certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for New Construction (NC) from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). The 7,500-square-foot restaurant, which opened in January, features a number of sustainable design elements, including: - Recycled Building Materials: Supplies such as sheetrock, doors and windows are made from recycled content. The flooring features carpet squares made from 100 percent recycled materials. - Increased Use of Natural Light: Incorporating more windows more frequently into the building's exterior reduces the need for artificial light. - Energy Efficient Equipment and Fixtures: Energy and water usage is reduced by incorporating items such as Energy Star-rated equipment and low-flow water nozzles in the kitchen and low-flow faucets in the restrooms. New LED parking lot light bulbs and low wattage energy efficient light bulbs use less energy and are replaced less often. Heat recovery tanks allow the capture of heat generated from the freezer/cooler compressors to aid in supplemental heating of hot water to reduce the energy required to heat water and prolong the life of the equipment.
