At a glance, there’s not much different about the McDonald’s restaurant in Savannah, Georgia— except maybe that white roof.

But look a little closer, and you’ll see subtle signs that this particular McDonald’s is a little unusual—revolutionary, in fact—in the quick-serve world.

There are lots and lots of windows, for starters, along with bike racks and parking lot signs that give low-emission vehicles preferred spaces.

The standalone McDonald’s and a nearby Panera’s outlet are part of one of the nation’s first green-certified shopping centers, Savannah’s Abercorn Common, an environmentally friendly development where stormwater seeps through porous pavement into soil, rooftops reflect heat to keep things cool inside, and the sun serves as primary lighting most days.

“It’s a beautiful McDonald’s,” says owner Gary Dodd, who operates 12 McDonald’s in the Savannah area. “And this one, because it’s green—it’s special. And it’s going to save us some energy costs as well.”

Dodd had the option of relocating an existing restaurant or becoming part of Abercorn’s green-built reconstruction, and he decided to stay put.

“We wanted to be part of the entire concept,” Dodd says. “I would be open to another green store anywhere. It’s almost like you’re in the right location at the right time. If I had an opportunity to do it again, yes, I’d do it again.

“You have to make a business decision,” he says. “Most of the costs were very comparable. And if all things were equal, why not go green?”

The term “green building” was coined in the late 1980s to signify homes, offices, and commercial structures designed to be resource efficient and environmentally sensitive. The more recycled materials, the merrier. The less energy use, the better.

“It’s just taking the resources and the land and everything that goes into building and doing it smartly and doing it in a way that has the least impact on the land and on your resources [using] a few new technologies,” says Taryn Holowka, spokeswoman for U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C. “These buildings are really high performing, using less energy and fewer resources.”

The green building movement began gaining steam in the 1990s, particularly on the East and West coasts and in Austin, Texas, home to the nation’s first green home-building program.

Corporate America, notably Ford Motor Co. and Steelcase, led by architect William McDonough, soon jumped aboard. Ford’s much-ballyhooed 10-acre living roof—the world’s largest—drew international eco-ovations when millions of sedums were planted in 1999, during renovation of Dearborn’s Rouge Center. (These long-lasting roofs are flourishing in Europe and some American cities because they’re long lasting, highly insulating, and can provide habitat or garden space.)