Starbucks First-of-its-Kind Sustainably Constructed Café to Open in Canada

Starbucks Canada today announced it will open a first-of-its-kind, sustainably constructed Starbucks drive-thru store in Canada, assembled in just six days, with near-zero construction waste and designed to reduce energy needs for heating and cooling compared to standard construction builds.

According to the Canada Green Building Council, buildings are responsible for almost 40% of global carbon emissions and 50% of global material use.  Designed, manufactured and constructed by Vancouver-based green building company, Nexii Building Solutions, the Starbucks drive-thru store – set to open in early 2021 in Abbotsford, B.C. – represents a significant step forward in the company’s aspirations to operate more eco-friendly stores, a key component of the company’s global sustainability strategy which aspires to store more carbon than the company emits; reduce waste sent to landfills; and provide more freshwater than the company uses.  Starbucks has set ambitious sustainability targets to cut its carbon, water, and waste footprints in half by 2030.

“Buildings and construction can have a substantial impact on Canada’s environmental goals,” says Catherine Anderson, vice president of Store Development at Starbucks Canada. “Working with like-minded innovators like Nexii, we are excited to lead the industry in modelling the benefits of green construction and share what we learn with others to help action meaningful, global change.”

Key features of this sustainably constructed café are:

●  It is designed to reduce energy needs for heating and cooling compared to standard construction builds

●  Nexii offsite manufacturing cut construction waste to near-zero for the build of the store

●  Nexii’s unique offsite precision-manufacturing process allowed the café to be assembled in just six days

●  Starbucks has been a global leader in designing its café interiors to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards since 2012

●  Following Starbucks commitment to adapting to meet evolving customer needs and changing retail environment the store will be drive thru

Starbucks has been a global leader in designing its stores to achieve LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards since 2005, ensuring energy and water efficiencies and using sustainable building materials. As a new-build construction project, the Starbucks Abbotsford drive-thru store was assembled in just six days – the result of Nexii’s unique precision-manufacturing process, whereby panels for the store’s roof and walls were designed and manufactured offsite. Through optimized manufacturing and simplified assembly, this building process reduces construction waste comparatively to industry practices.

“All aspects of the Nexii system – from the products we create to the way we assemble our buildings – are designed with sustainability at the core, so that we can create affordable, green buildings,” says Stephen Sidwell, CEO of Nexii, who adds thatas Nexii panels create a thermally efficient, airtight envelope, the Starbucks building will require less energy to heat and cool compared to standard construction builds, greatly improving energy efficiency over its building lifecycle, lowering operating costs.

Despite challenges resulting from COVID-19, Starbucks remains steadfast on making progress against its 2030 sustainability goals. Since January, the company has expanded plant-based menu options and found better ways to manage waste, is making progress against eliminating plastic straws and introduced a recyclable strawless lid in all stores in Canada. These investments join a growing list of sustainability work at Starbucks in Canada including:

• Funding in-store recycling in every store where this is possible, especially to recycle our single use cups in regions where local recycling facilities do not have the capabilities.
• Rescuing 100% of food available for donation through our FoodShare program in the Greater Toronto Area with a goal to have a national solution in place by 2021.
• Purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates, currently covering 100% electricity usage for Canada.

Please click here for a timeline of Starbucks sustainability initiatives.