"Our effort to change the way people think about and eat fast food began with our commitment to serving food made with ingredients from more sustainable sources, and that same kind of thinking now influences all areas of our business," said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. "Today, we're following a similar path in the way we design and build restaurants, looking for more environmentally friendly building materials and systems that make our restaurants more efficient."

Solar panel installations are already underway in select cities including Denver, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. Markets and restaurants where solar may be used is based on a formula that includes a restaurant's electricity consumption, local utility solar rebates, and its access to direct sunlight.

The intent of Chipotle's solar initiative is to reduce the restaurants' traditional energy consumption during peak hours for energy use (from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.), when pressure on the energy grid is greatest. The amount of power produced through the solar program will eliminate more than 41 million pounds of CO2 emissions.

"Chipotle has recognized an eco-friendly method of reducing its operating costs while reducing its carbon footprint," said Standard Renewable Energy CEO John Berger. "By applying solar, each individual restaurant will be decreasing its reliance on the local grid and fossil fuels and supplementing it with clean, renewable energy. This is just another way Chipotle is leading the restaurant industry in sustainability."

In addition to this new solar panel initiative, Chipotle was the first restaurant ever to receive Platinum level LEED® certification -- the highest level -- by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Gurnee, Ill., restaurant that features an on-site wind turbine and an underground cistern to harvest rainwater for irrigation. Chipotle also has a LEED certified restaurant in Long Island, N.Y., and a third restaurant that is pending certification in Minneapolis.