Feb 19 2010
Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, announced the efficiency results of the Company’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certified Store. The store, located in Austin, Texas, which was LEED Gold certified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in May 2008, has lowered its carbon intensity by 23 percent thanks to a number of programs implemented at the store.
From November 2008 to November 2009, Office Depot tracked a variety of environmental impact factors including energy usage, carbon dioxide emissions and water efficiency at the location and compared it to other Office Depot retail stores in the same area.
“The energy savings realized at our first Austin store location has been even greater than what we had originally expected,” said Edward Costa, Vice President of Construction for Office Depot. “The Austin location allowed us to test a variety of new and innovative initiatives and solutions that resulted in both environmental and economic benefits.”
In addition to lowering its carbon emissions, the Office Depot Gold Certified LEED retail store has achieved numerous benefits, including:
- Approximately 14 percent less electricity (kWh per square foot) usage;
- Reduced carbon footprint (per square foot) by 23 percent;
- Over 10 percent of the store’s energy needs are met with solar power;
- Through its use of solar power, Office Depot avoided approximately 45,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2);
- By reducing its carbon emissions, the store has lowered its annual electricity costs by approximately 16 percent; and
- Overall, the store is 15 percent more energy efficient (per square foot) than the other Office Depot retail locations in Austin.
Office Depot’s Austin, TX Gold LEED-Certified store’s environmental attributes that have attributed to its success, include:
- Solar tracking skylights
- Solar energy
- Lighting retrofit to energy efficient T5 lighting
- High efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning units
- Light sensors in all offices
- Enhanced energy management system
- Recycling program for collection of corrugated cardboard, paper, plastics, ink/toner cartridges and technology
- Reflective white roof
- Non-asphalt, concrete parking lot
- Polished concrete floor and recycled content carpet
“Our Austin experience shows that a LEED-certified store is dramatically more energy efficient than a non-certified store,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “The results prove how beneficial a green building can be from both an environmental and economic perspective.”
Source: http://www.officedepot.com/