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August 10, 2009

(Ankeny, Iowa) The third green McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S. opened July 14th in Cary, North Carolina, and is using QA Graphics’ Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard (EEED) to educate the public on the restaurant’s economic and environmental benefits.  This McDonald’s is owned and operated by Ric Richards of  The Richards Advantage, Inc., a 20-year-old McDonald’s franchise organization with multiple restaurants in North Carolina. 

View a demo of this McDonald's EEED.

The Energy Efficiency Education Dashboard was unveiled at the restaurant’s grand opening, July 14, and is displayed in the lobby as a green education tool to show the public more about the restaurant’s green features.  An EEED is a graphical user interface (GUI) that can display non-live data or live data, such as a building’s resource use. A combination of photo-realistic graphics and non-live data is used on this dashboard.

The EEED is displayed on an interactive LCD touch screen, where users can browse through a Web-site like program to learn about the green features used throughout the building, how they help the environment and why it’s cost effective. An interactive 360-degree digital tour of the building shows viewers the sustainable features used, including the LED (Light Emitting Diode) Lights, Solatubes that provide natural light, electric car charge stations, recycled countertops, flooring, décor and more. Local transportation routes and contact information for buses, bike and pedestrian paths are also provided. After learning about the green features, users can test their knowledge with a ‘green’ quiz. All of the information is viewable in both English and Spanish.

“It’s rewarding to see the public interact with the EEED and show such excitement about a building’s green initiatives,” said Dan McCarty, president and founder of QA Graphics. “At the grand opening, everyone was excited to interact with the energy dashboard, from a 5-year-old, to the customers, the general public, even Ronald McDonald.” 

Richards chose the EEED solution to educate the public on the restaurant’s sustainability practices.  “Everyone’s overall reaction to the dashboard has definitely brought the WOW factor to a new level,” said Richards. “The touch screen hits customers right in the face when they walk in the restaurant. It’s so unique and different; people are walking right up and touching the dashboard right away.”

The new building is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED) as part of the LEED for Retail Pilot program. Details from this building project and over 80 other pilot project teams will be used to create two new LEED for Retail rating systems to be launched later this year.

About QA Graphics
QA Graphics is an innovative computer graphic development company specializing in the building automation design industry. The company is an industry leader in the design of graphical user interfaces (GUI) and energy efficiency education, offering custom graphic design solutions including graphic outsourcing, 3D design/animation, interactive content and full-service Web site development. Please visit www.qagraphics.com to learn more.

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