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

Some exciting news for Starbucks drinkers and coffee lovers !! Today, Starbucks Canada announced it will open a first-of-its-kind, sustainably constructed café in Canada. This initiative is a significant step forward in the company’s global sustainability strategy, announced earlier this year, which focuses on three key areas: storing more carbon than the company emits; eliminating waste; and providing more clean freshwater than the company uses.

Designed, manufactured and constructed with Vancouver-based green building company, Nexii Building Solutions, the Starbucks drive thru café will open in early 2021 in Abbotsford, B.C.

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 ●  

According to the Canada Green Building Council, buildings are responsible for almost 40% of global carbon emissions and 50% of global material use. 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.”

Starbucks has been a global leader in designing its cafés to achieve LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards since 2005, ensuring energy and water efficiencies and using sustainable building materials.  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 that as 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. 

Photo courtesy of Renderings Nexeii Starbucks.