Office Depot to Open First Green-Certified Store

Office Depot Inc. plans to build and open its first certified green retail store in Austin, Texas, in mid-2008.

The site will meet the U.S. Green Building Council´s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design requirements to receive certification as a green building, said Edward Costa, vice president of construction for Delray Beach, Fla.-based Office Depot. The company´s membership with the USGBC and its plan to build the prototype LEED-certified store are examples of its overall environmental mission, he said.

"Office Depot has successfully implemented a number of environmental construction initiatives over the past few years," Costa said.

The company has saved some 66 million kilowatt-hours of electricity through energy efficiency and conservation efforts in its North American warehouses and stores, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions 10.1 percent in those buildings, he said. It also has retrofitted nearly its entire store chain, 1,186 sites in North America, with high-output lighting.