Office Depot to Celebrate Opening of LEED-Registered Store in Texas

Office Depot® (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, will celebrate the opening of its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Commercial Interiors (CI) registered store today at 2 p.m. Office Depot expects the store to be certified a few months after opening.

As part of the celebration, which will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Office Depot Foundation will make donations to local non-profit organizations. The store is located at 500 Canyon Ridge Drive in Austin, Texas. LEED CI is the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) recognized system for certifying high-performance green interiors that are healthy, productive places to work; are less costly to operate and maintain; and have a reduced environmental footprint.

Through LEED for Commercial Interiors, Office Depot is able to integrate environmentally friendly attributes into its stores’ preexisting shells. Beginning with the Austin store, all new and relocated North American Office Depot retail locations will receive LEED CI certification, including 14 stores planned for 2010.

“Office Depot is at the forefront of corporate environmental sustainability,” said Kevin Peters, President of North American Retail for Office Depot. “And LEED CI is a step forward in our expanded effort to grow greener.”

According to Peters, Office Depot aims to continue the success of its LEED Gold certified store which opened in 2008. The store, also located in Austin, Texas, made Office Depot the first retailer to receive LEED Gold Certification on a store prototype. Among its many benefits, the LEED Gold store lowers carbon emissions by 23 percent and is about 15 percent more energy efficient (per square foot) than other Office Depot retail locations in Austin.

“As a leader in green initiatives, Office Depot is focused on improving the environmental performance of our suppliers, our customers and ourselves,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “We take our role very seriously and hope that our commitment to ‘green’ all new stores has a positive impact on the communities they serve.”

“Office Depot should be commended for their remarkable environmental leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, USGBC. “Having all Office Depot locations – existing and future – undergo LEED certification is a tremendous accomplishment and speaks volumes about not only their corporate commitment to mitigating our environmental challenges, but is also smart for their business, as these locations will be individually saving money over the lifecycle of the facilities.”

James Andrews, Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council Central Texas-Balcones Chapter, added, “Office Depot’s LEED Gold store on Anderson Lane, which opened two years ago, has set a terrific example for retailers in our region about the quantifiable benefits of building high performance, sustainable buildings. Office Depot’s commitment to building further stores green, like the one on Canyon Ridge Drive, highlights its continued leadership in this movement.”

Office Depot LEED CI Green Store Highlights

Features of all new Office Depot LEED for Commercial Interiors certified stores will include:

• Skylights (where applicable) to harvest daylight for 90% of the store.
• Reflective roof, which features a membrane that helps to prevent absorption of the heat from the sun and keeps the interior of the store much cooler.
• Energy Star rated HVAC equipment, which exceeds the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards.
• T5 energy-efficient lighting, which is over 30% more efficient than typical retail lighting and will contribute to a more than 20% reduction in energy use.
• Daylight and occupancy sensors, which reduce energy use.
• Water conservation interior fixtures, including tankless instant hot water heaters, low flush toilets, low flow urinals and automatic shutoff sensors in restrooms that will use over 30% less water than the typical facility.
• Construction waste that will be recycled when waste recycling is available.
• Construction materials that consist of at least 10% recycled content.
• Wood, 50% of which will come from Forest Stewardship Council certified sources.
• Interior finishes made up of low VOC emitting materials and finishes.
• Green Power purchases to supplement electrical use.
• Energy Management Systems that allow tracking of energy usage and trends from one central location.
• 100% Energy Star rated building equipment and appliances.
• Office supplies, technology and furniture featuring a range of green attributes, including recycled content, remanufactured, Energy Star rated and non-toxic.
• An in-store recycling center with environmental solutions including Office Depot Ink and Toner Cartridge Recycling, Tech Recycling Service and Cell Phone and Rechargeable Battery Recycling.
• Preferred parking designated for low-emitting, fuel-efficient vehicles and carpooling.

Supporting the Austin Community

During today’s ceremony, the Office Depot Foundation will celebrate the opening of the Company’s first LEED CI certified store with a $1,000 donation to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in support of environmental education programs. Additionally, the Office Depot Foundation will provide a total of 300 backpacks to the Austin Children’s Center, which provides emergency shelter, high-quality care and hope for the future to abandoned, abused and neglected children in the community, and SafePlace, which provides shelters, programs and services for individuals and families affected by sexual and domestic violence.

The backpack donations are part of the Office Depot Foundation’s award-winning National Backpack Program, through which it will donate approximately 300,000 new backpacks this year to deserving children across North America and beyond. The Foundation is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the program in 2010. By the end of this year, Office Depot will have given away more than 2.3 million backpacks since the program began in 2001.

Source: http://www.officedepot.com/