– The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company of Quincy, MA, recently announced that they have been awarded LEED® Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. This achievement distinguishes Stop & Shop not only as the first supermarket chain, but also the first company in the country earning Volume Certification under the Portfolio Program. Fifty one existing stores and close to 3.4 million square feet of stores have met the green and sustainable criteria of USGBC. LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
"We are tremendously proud to have achieved LEED Portfolio Volume certification," says Stop & Shop president and CEO, Jose Alvarez. "At Stop & Shop, we are deeply committed to corporate social responsibility and believe it is important to embed sustainability in every part of our company. This achievement is proof of our commitment to and our success in leading the industry in green and energy efficient operations and buildings."
According to the USGBC, buildings in the United States account for 39 percent of total energy use, 71 percent of electricity consumption and 36 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
LEED Portfolio Volume Certification enables building owners to integrate the LEED green building rating system into existing buildings in their company's portfolio in a cost effective way without sacrificing the technical rigor and integrity of LEED. The Portfolio Program recognizes market leaders who have committed to and achieved high levels of LEED certification within their portfolio.
"Stop & Shop is a true leader in green building," notes Richard Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "Many people think that only new buildings can be green. At Stop & Shop, they understand that there's a lot that can be done to improve a building's energy efficiency and minimize its impact on the environment."
Stop & Shop's LEED Portfolio Volume Certification was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community. These features include recycling, solid waste management, and water conservation, white reflective TPO roof membrane, daylight harvesting, T5 florescent lighting systems with dimmable ballasts and occupancy sensors controlled by state-of-the-art energy management systems, refrigeration systems with high-efficiency fan motors, low energy glass, and more.
For years, Stop & Shop has been committed to protecting the environment and improving the quality of life of its associates, customers and residents of the communities in which it operates through various programs and initiatives. The organization also recently earned recognition for superior energy performance of their supermarkets by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They were the only supermarket chain in the country and the only company in New England to be named an Energy Star Leader in 2007.
About Stop & Shop
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, based in Quincy, MA, employs more than 59,000 associates and operates 389 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey.
About USGBC
The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since USGBC's founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 13,000 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® Green Building Rating Systems, an expansive educational offering, the industry's popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 72 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.
About LEED
The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ is a feature-oriented rating system that awards buildings points for satisfying specified green building criteria. The six major environmental categories to review include: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation and Design. Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels of LEED green building certification are awarded based on the total number of points earned within each LEED category. LEED can be applied to all building types including new construction, commercial interiors, core and shell developments, existing buildings, homes, neighborhood developments, schools and retail facilities. LEED for Healthcare is currently under development and is expected to be released in early 2008. Incentives for LEED are available at the state and local level and LEED has also been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments, and interested private companies. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org/LEED.
Source: The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC
For additional information, contact Robert Keane of the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, (617) 770-6023; or Ashley Katz of the U.S. Green Business Council, [email protected].
