Office Depot Opens First "Green" Store

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot® (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today will celebrate the grand opening of its first “Green” store, located at 2620 W. Anderson Lane in Austin, TX, with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony scheduled for 2:00 pm. The event will be attended by Office Depot executives, Texas dignitaries, including City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn, local environmental organizations and representatives from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Office Depot’s “Green” store, which is pre-certified to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards by the USGBC, will use less energy and water in its daily operations, increase recycling and leave a much smaller overall environmental footprint than the typical store of its size.

“The City of Austin is the birthplace of the USGBC and a leader in our nation’s fight against climate change,” said City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn. “We are proud that Office Depot chose to select Austin as the site of its green retail prototype. We think what they are doing shows real leadership – and paves the path for more retailers to invest in green building.”

Office Depot is the only office supply retailer participating in the USGBC’s prestigious Retail Volume Certification Portfolio Program, a pilot group formed to help retailers achieve LEED-Certification at numerous locations and to facilitate the certification process for a company’s prototype. Office Depot is the first Company to have its prototype pre-certified under the USGBC's LEED for New Construction Volume Certification Program.

“We are looking forward to taking care of business for our Austin customers at our first pre-certified ‘Green’ store,” said Chuck Rubin, President of North American Retail for Office Depot. “Not only can customers choose from thousands of greener office products within Office Depot's industry-leading assortment but they will also have a better understanding of why a particular product is green and how they can make sustainable products a part of their home office or business environment.”

"We took a series of innovative green design elements used in Office Depot store locations across the country and brought them together in our new store prototype," added Ed Costa, Vice President of Construction for Office Depot. "Through the construction phase of this prototype design we used a wide range of greener building products and practices.”

Office Depot Green Store Highlights

Features of the new Office Depot “Green” store in Austin include:

* T5 energy-efficient lighting, which is over 30 percent more efficient than traditional, incandescent lighting.
* Over 50 active skylights that adjust with the path of the sun and provide natural light to over 90 percent of the store.
* Solar panels on the roof, which generate about 10 percent of the store’s energy needs and power the exterior Office Depot signage.
* 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.
* Steel decking and joists made of over 85 percent recycled steel and recycled concrete partitions composed of more than 95 percent recycled materials.
* Water conservation interior fixtures, including dual flush toilets, low flow urinals, and automatic shutoff sensors in restrooms that will use over 40 percent less water than the typical facility.
* Exterior Landscaping system featuring xeriscaping, a water-efficient technique.
* Native plants that require no additional irrigation for sustenance.
* Energy Management System that allows tracking of energy usage and trends from one central location.
* Office supplies, technology and furniture options featuring a wide range of green attributes such as recycled content, remanufactured, EnergyStar certified and non-toxic.
* 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.

Another innovative aspect of the Office Depot green store is a new approach to visual merchandising. The interior walls feature educational vignettes about how the store and product assortment are both greener; customers will be welcomed by an informational board containing interesting facts and details on what makes the store green; and store associates will be armed with tips and recommendations to help customers learn how to green their own business.

Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot added: “Office Depot has an environmental vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green. While we have already achieved dramatic reductions in carbon emissions from our existing facilities, this new store takes us to a completely new level of energy efficiency, carbon reduction and waste reduction. The pre-certification of our prototype further establishes Office Depot as the green leader in the office products industry."