McDonald's
At a Glance
Industry
Food Services
Project Type
Commercial Energy Efficiency
Year
2010
Location
Oak Brook, IL
Annual kWh Savings:
2,993,000 kWh
Annual CO2 Reductions:
1,799 metric tons
Summary
Koji Kitazume determined the possible savings from occupancy sensors and identified other potential energy efficiency upgrades in restaurant buildings.
Video
See McDonald's discuss its success with the EDF Climate Corps program.
Goals
Koji Kitazume was hired to spend his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at McDonald's Corporation in Chicago. The leading global foodservice retailer serves on average 60 million customers a day through more than 32,000 local restaurants in nearly 120 countries.
Solutions
Kitazume, an MBA/Master of Environmental Management joint degree student at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Nicholas School of the Environment, worked with the McDonald's worldwide energy director to develop a tool that quantifies financial and environmental impact of the company's energy efficiency efforts and investments for prioritization. In addition, while participating in a restaurant training program, Kitazume identified potential energy saving opportunities in McDonald's restaurant buildings, while running customer orders, toasting muffins and cooking burgers.
Potential Impact
Using the very tool that he developed, Kitazume calculated that the company could cut approximately 2,993,000 kWh of electricity usage and avoid 1,799 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually if it were to install occupancy sensors for lighting control in non-dining and non-kitchen areas in 775 company-owned restaurants in the U.S.
Approximately 20 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are company-owned and 80 percent franchised.