Quick opens a pilot green restaurant

The innovative techniques deployed will serve as benchmarks and testing grounds for future new buildings and renovations

Berchem, 14 May 2009 – Quick has just completed construction of a pilot restaurant to High Environmental Quality (HEQ) standards in a major project developed for the new Quick restaurant at Dammarie-lès-Lys in the Paris region.

This experimental building will serve as a test-bed and benchmark for all future restaurant construction and renovation. The green technologies employed should bring savings of 20% on water and electricity consumption.

Paul Synquintyn, Quality Assurance & Environment Senior Manager of the Quick Group, provides more details: "Our aim is
optimal energy and water consumption management to achieve an overall 20% reduction across the board. For the framework, walls and insulation of this pilot building, we opted for wood from sustainably managed forests. Wood is a renewable resource with excellent thermal insulation properties. We installed a planted roof on top of the building, along with thermal solar panels and a built-in heat pump. We found ourselves adopting technologies never before used in the restaurant sector to push performance to the maximum."

The process of constructing this pilot restaurant covered every stage in the life of a restaurant, from project design to building and operation:

- Identification of any protected animal or plant species on the site
Two outstanding Sequoia specimens were identified, and special care was taken for their protection during construction work and for the foreseeable future.

Reducing energy consumption by 20%

- Wood: a natural thermal insulator
All wood used in the restaurant was sourced from sustainably managed PEFC-certified forests (PEFC = "Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification"). Wood was used for the restaurant framework and, in the form of fibre, for the insulation.

- Thermal solar panels
South-facing solar panels were installed on the roof, with the aim of generating at least one third of the annual energy required for domestic water heating.

- A planted roof
A roof planted with succulents and green and red stonecrop (sedum) does not overheat, thus reducing the need for airconditioning in the restaurant below. It also helps to regulate the indoor temperature because the vegetation absorbs some of the sunlight.

- Built-in heat pump
The HVAC system was chosen to reduce heating energy requirements by 10%. The same system is now installed in all Quick new-builds and renovations.

Reducing water consumption by 20%

In addition to the equipment installed by Quick as standard (timed flow taps and foot-operated taps), a waterless urinal and dual-flush toilet mechanisms were installed with the aim of achieving a 50% saving on water used. In addition, a catchment basin connected to a collection tank will harvest and filter rainwater and runoff to provide some 40% of the water needed for watering the landscaped areas.

Paul Synquintyn has the last word: "To make sure we follow through on our approach, performances will be assessed and monitored for at least two years and compared against those of a similar building. Our aim is to reduce our water and energy consumption by 20%. With the help of this "laboratory", Quick will be in a position to draw up precise specifications for the deployment of equipment on both construction and renovation projects."

A project in step with the work of Institut Quick

The building of this HEQ restaurant is not Quick's first foray into the field of environmental protection. On the contrary, the group has a long-standing environmental policy to which it devotes significant resources, and from which it has obtained significant results: lighter, recyclable packaging, use of bioplastics, anti-littering campaigns, a 100% biological and biodegradable seaweed-based cleaning agent, recycling frying oil for bio-fuel, etc.

Respect for the environment is an integral part of the Quick spirit and of the aims of the Institut Quick, founded in 2008 to identify areas for improvement, foster thinking and support company department research into the component elements of CSR: quality, nutrition, the environment, and the promotion of talents. More specifically, Quick's environmental policy has three key aims: reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), improving waste quality and quantity, and upgrading our restaurants' environmental performance.

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