The Houlihan’s restaurant at 2110 E. Republic Road is officially designated a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Gold certified structure by the U.S. Green Building Council, O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC announced this week.
The eatery is one of two Houlihan’s in Springfield owned and managed by O’Reilly Hospitality Management. Morelock-Ross Builders Inc. is the general contractor of the 7,000-square-foot eatery, which had an estimated cost of $1.7 million and opened in September 2010, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Using smart design to cut energy and water use, the restaurant’s green features include solar roof panels, a solar wall that serves as a heat exchange, a geothermal HVAC system, and high-efficiency water and light fixtures, according to a news release.
Other factors that helped secure LEED-Gold certification included the use of local and regional building materials, which cuts energy used for transportation. The restaurant also composts food waste to use it as mulch in flower beds, recycles food and beverage packaging, and uses biodegradable containers for to-go orders.
Tim O’Reilly, a Houlihan’s owner and CEO of O’Reilly Hospitality Management, said the LEED-Gold certification is an acknowledgement of the planning and effort that the companies put into making the eatery sustainable.
“Our OHM team believes strongly that environmental responsibility and sustainability are critical values to embrace, and the operational cost savings from many LEED design elements go straight to the bottom line,” O’Reilly said in the release.
Utilities for Houlihan’s are 30 percent to 40 percent less than similar buildings that were constructed with traditional methods, the release said.
Earlier this year,
Houlihan’s secured Green-e Energy-certified renewable energy certificates for the generation of 258 megawatt hours of renewable energy. The company is matching the certificates with its electricity usage, which officials say enables it to avoid 185 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
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