The first solar powered Burger King

Designed with Wirsol Solar AG, the establishment boasts 720 solar panels on the roof and a wind turbine, from which the restaurant will pull about 45 percent of it’s energy. Capable producing 56,000 kiloWatt hours a year, the arrangement may not be entirely carbon neutral but it’s a step in the right direction. The restaurant was designed with several energy saving features that will both save money and test the effectiveness of such features for a building that consumes quite a bit of energy. With a heat recovery system, LED lights and water heated from waste, the new franchise marks the beginning of a greening initiative by Burger King’s BK Positive Steps.

The restaurant also adopted BK’s 20/20 design program, which makes the interior design of new and existing Burger King establishments sleeker in an attempt to give the fast food giant a touch of class, and a point of differentiation from similar competitors. Already implemented in over 60 locations worldwide, Burger King representations announced in October that they planned to implement the design in another 75 locations by the end of 2010. {Greener Buildings}

The reviews of Windows 7 are in, and the reaction is mostly glowing. At Slate, Farhad Manjoo proclaims the new Windows OS release “not only the best operating system that Microsoft has ever produced. It is arguably the fastest, most intuitive, and most useful consumer desktop OS on the market today. Windows 7 edges out Snow Leopard—Apple’s latest Mac operating system—in several important ways and will leave any computers running an older version of the Mac OS in the dust.” Yes, even the hardcore Mac fanboys are willing to give Windows a chance in its latest iteration.

And if good old-fashioned “better mousetrap” tactics don’t work, we now know that Windows is willing to grab your geek heart through your stomach. With 7 patties, it’s more of a stranglehold, but whatever gets the job done.

Read more {Slate}
Read more {CNN}