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"  The latest innovation to come out of Applebee&amp;#039;s isn&amp;#039;t on the menu. On December 10, the chain will debut its first green eatery in Harlem. It will be the only restaurant in New York City that has a gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. More From Delish: Olive Garden Serves Alcohol to 10-Year-Old Boy To qualify for the prestigious certification, Applebee&amp;#039;s must go through a rigorous process and be judged on its sustainability practices \u2014 which comes with a price tag. The 350-seat environmentally-friendly eatery cost $4 million to build, while the average Applebee&amp;#039;s costs roughly $2.5 million. But the money invested in the construction will eventually lead to reduced costs for the restaurant while at the same time saving energy and reducing the eatery&amp;#039;s carbon footprint. The rooftop, painted white to keep the building cool, was fitted with a greenhouse and can harvest rainwater that will be piped down and used in flushing toilets. One of the more talked about features is also in the bathroom: two &amp;quot;waterless&amp;quot; urinals. The New York Post reports that the restaurant will save about 40,000 gallons of water per year by &amp;quot;letting gravity do the work.&amp;quot; More From Delish: The Green Arches? McDonald&amp;#039;s Goes For LEED\u00AE Certification Zane Tankel, founder and CEO of Apple-Metro Inc., the operator of 25 Applebee&amp;#039;s in New York, told the New York Daily News, &amp;quot;Our goal is very simple: We want to help save the planet!&amp;quot; Other features include recycled carpeting, surfaces made from bamboo, and a &amp;quot;living wall&amp;quot; made up of hundreds of plants covering the facade of one wall. The Post reports the plants are scheduled to be automatically watered once a week for 15 minutes through a control panel, which will also schedule fertilization of the plants. This restaurant will join an elite group of restaurants in the U.S. that are LEED-certified Gold. According to the New York Daily News, there are only 11 restaurant projects in the entire U.S. What do you think of creating more green restaurants?  Find more great food content on Delish: Search for the perfect recipe from our homepage Find out the latest food news Get a recipe book to save your favorite dishes Sign up for our free newsletters Check us out on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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