Restaurant puts recycling high on the menu
The Red Stag, which opened late last year, is one of only a few restaurants in the country on its way to achieving the U.S. Green Building Council's nationally recognized standard for environmentally friendly design. It was designed and built to use about half the gas and electricity and 30 percent of the water of a typical restaurant its size.
In addition, major elements of its interior were made from existing materials. Tables came from doors that were discarded from a nearby condo project, and the bar is made of Italian marble salvaged from a local hotel.
Bartmann is hoping the certification, known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), is good not just for the environment but also for her bottom line. Achieving the energy and water efficiencies cost more up front, but Bartmann said she'll recoup that quickly in lower monthly costs.
And she said she saved so much elsewhere by using salvage materials that her startup costs were about half the typical $1 million for a restaurant of similar size.
"You hear more and more people in the sustainability community shifting their conversations from the moral imperative to the business argument," Bartmann said. "It's kind of obvious that a 'It's just good business' argument is going to push things along a lot more rapidly than a moral imperative."
Restaurants generally consume the most energy of any type of retail business, and while many commercial and residential structures are now being built to LEED standards, restaurateurs have been slow to follow suit. Ashley Katz, spokeswoman for the U.S. Green Building Council, said the agency has only certified seven restaurants so far.
"We'd like to see that grow," Katz said. "If you're operating a restaurant, you're using a lot of energy. Thirty to 50 percent energy savings, 30 percent of water usage - these are things you can really take to the bank."
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Source - ANG Newspapers
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