Wendy’s cuts energy use

The Wendy’s Company is in the spotlight for dramatically reducing energy usage.



The company received two environmental awards from the 2016 Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) campaign. Wendy’s was recognized for the largest absolute number of facility upgrades and highest percentage energy savings in a retrofit of a parking lot.



"At Wendy's, we're setting bold goals that are brought to life in the way we plan, design, engineer, construct and operate our restaurants. These awards recognize this long-term commitment to energy conservation and sustainability," said Abigail Pringle, chief development officer for The Wendy's Company.



More than six years ago, the company built two LEED certified restaurants to gain learnings and explore the possibility of incorporating energy conservation efforts in new and existing restaurants.



Additionally, Wendy's has accelerated progress in reducing energy use by implementing more than 1,100 individual energy upgrade projects at more than 550 restaurants. These actions have saved millions of kilowatt hours which, for comparison, translates into the amount of electricity to power nearly 1,200 average U.S. homes for a year.



The LEEP campaign is an annual award and guidance program that encourages the use of high-efficiency lighting technology in parking facilities in order to save money and energy resources. The awards are presented at the annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.



"The Wendy's Company's project represents one of the best-in-class retrofit parking lot facility lighting projects in the United States," said Paul Wessel, director, United States Green Building Council. "By implementing high-performance energy-efficient lighting systems, companies like Wendy's are not only cutting energy use and maintenance costs, but helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global electricity consumption."