The Gurnee Chipotle sucessfully achieved LEED® Silver Certification by opening day, and is now among the first LEED®-Certified restaurants in the nation. In addition to the wind turbine, the building includes green construction materials including fly-ash in the concrete. Fly-ash, a byproduct of coal combustion that is usually disposed of as waste, is used to strengthen the concrete and make it more durable.

The thick concrete panels of the old warehouse were ripped away and replaced with windows, creating an open, very light-driven, contemporary structure like sitting in a terminal at O’Hare Airport. The building was also equipped with an overhang protecting the glass walls from emitting too much light in the wrong areas. The orientation of the building takes advantage of morning sunlight. “I don’t really consider it a loss. We feel that considering this is the first Gold Certified Police building in the country, and that there were no renewable technology added to the building, we did very well.”