While many businesses are weighing the pros and cons of sustainable design in new construction, Organic To Go didn’t really have a choice. With a commitment to healthy, natural and ecologically friendly products woven into its brand DNA, environmentally conscious design was a mandate for the fast-growing company, the first fast casual café chain certified by the USDA as an organic retailer.

So when the company turned to Bethesda, Md.-based national retail chain architect The Heiserman Group to design seven new metro Washington, D.C., locations, environment was every bit as important as functionality. “Organic To Go is sincere in its eco-friendly commitment. They really want to better our environment,” said firm principal Herb Heiserman. “That said, design has to be fiscally responsible, too. While a 10- to 20-percent upcharge may be palatable, no one can afford to pay twice as much for sustainable materials.”

Placing the Order

The good news, Heiserman says, is that suppliers are starting to respond to demand for green products and to global pressure for more environmentally friendly products. Premiums for products like low-VOC paints, laminates and inks are decreasing. “That made it easier economically to go green and still have a café environment,” he adds.

Heiserman attributes improved pricing and availability in the retail sector to several factors:

• Manufacturers are beginning to realize the impact of smaller retail chains. “For years, the leading school of thought has been that 300,000-square-foot high-rise office buildings have a far bigger environmental impact, and so those are the products on which manufacturers have focused,” Heiserman says. “But now they’re seeing that if you’re building 20 6,000-square-foot retail storefronts in a year, that has significant impact, as well.”
• Increasing LEED and government initiatives are incentivizing manufacturers to roll out more eco-friendly products. If a carpeting or tile manufacturer can say they have a line of 40-percent recycled material, it may be enough to get a LEED stamp of approval. That is a huge marketing asset for them.
• A growing demand for the products combined with decreasing research costs means they can be mass-produced, which leads to lower cost, greater availability and a wider array of options. “Where you used to only be able to get red, white or blue, now you can get sustainable products in any color of the rainbow,” Heiserman says. Prices are dropping, too. Low-VOC paints are now readily available for as little as a 5-percent premium, whereas before they had limited availability and commanded a much higher price.

Healthful Ingredients

The challenge of translating a West Coast chain with no consistent design theme into an East Coast presence that reflected the brand’s core commitment to the environment and could be easily reproduced anywhere around the country was no small feat. But thanks in part to decreasing costs and improved availability of eco-friendly products, The Heiserman Group was able to provide a design for five of the new stores in just a few short weeks.

Furnishings, fixtures and equipment for the new Organic To Go cafés reflect the company’s directive for a fresh, clean, comfortable and natural environment. Sustainable bamboo provides the basis for the design. It shows up in the tables, millwork, wall paneling, fixtures in the retail area, and wraps for the frontline counters and reach-in refrigerators. Of note is the type of bamboo product selected: a new innovation that uses recycled backing with a top laminate layer of bamboo making it even more cost-effective and eco-friendly than solid bamboo while remaining equally durable and attractive.

The use of low VOC paints, carpeting made from recycled materials and fabrics manufactured in a more environmentally friendly manner round out the design while natural stone and rattan add elemental textures. Even the serving “plates” are edible—Organic To Go boasts that every plate, bag and food container that the company uses is either biodegradable, compostable or recyclable.

But it wasn’t just product innovations that lowered construction costs for the retailer. Creative material usage—or more accurately, reduced usage—also positively impacted the budget.

For instance, by designing stores so that retail refrigeration cases were placed against walls and wrapping only the visible sides of the cases, The Heiserman Group reduced both material usage and cost. Other clever solutions such as lower-wattage lighting fixtures in the dining area served the dual purpose of adding to the café’s ambience while reducing energy usage.

Green To Go

Retailers like Organic To Go are going green by choice. But increasingly strict regulations are forcing others to implement more eco-friendly tactics. For example, today’s National Electric Code (NEC) is stricter than ever, limiting energy use for lighting based on the type of business you own. Heiserman points out similarities to when the Americans with Disabilities Act was first implemented. “The reality is [that] not all architects, manufacturers and engineers are supporting this trend just to do the right thing. Like ADA, things are also getter better because of the toughened codes,” Heiserman says. “But it’s forcing the entire industry to be more innovative, and we’re getting better at this all the time.”

Conversely, there are a number of businesses that are more concerned with doing the right thing than achieving certification or awards for going green. “Many of our clients are opting not to pursue certifications, which can add thousands of dollars in fees to their project. To them, it’s about how they can feel good about helping the environment,” Heiserman says. “That’s more important than winning an award or recognition.”

An undisputed success by any measure, Organic To Go was recently ranked among the five 2008 ‘Hot Concepts!’ awarded by Nation’s Restaurant News, which recognizes concepts that exude exemplary innovation, rapid emergence into the marketplace and widespread consumer appeal. “The common thread of all the restaurants on this list is their success in consistently bringing their brands to their customers at the retail store level,” Heiserman says. “In the case of Organic To Go, they were able to fulfill their brand commitment to green without sacrificing profit.”

And with today’s improved climate for eco-friendly products, better product selection and evolving design innovations, there’s more reason than ever to opt for sustainable design in your next storefront.


For more information on Organic to Go, visit organictogo.com. Additional information on The Heiserman Group is available at www.heisermangroup.com.