Portland, OR – The Green Building Initiative® (GBI) has announced a wave of Green Globes certifications for new grocery stores across the nation.
The properties include New Seasons Markets in Oregon, and Whole Foods, Price Chopper, Aldi’s, Harris Teeter, Wegmans, and Publix stores across the country.
New Seasons director of construction and facilities Wayne Pipes said Green Globes certification helps validate the company’s sustainability story. “We were the first B-Corp grocer in the world—sustainability is part of our DNA,” Pipes said. “We're classified a Zero-Waste company, and using less energy is part of who we are. Green Globes help make our mission clear throughout the community at large as we continue to grow.”
“Grocers’ need for refrigeration make energy-efficient construction and operations especially critical, both from an environmental and an economic standpoint,” Jerry Yudelson, president of Green Building Initiative, said. “Green Globes is ideal for retail environments because of its integration with the ENERGY STAR® program—which includes supermarkets as a building occupancy category—and because it accommodates different building scenarios by not applying penalties for features that aren’t applicable.”
To date, nearly 50 Whole Foods stores have been certified or are now in the Green Globes process. In 2013 Whole Foods expanded its sustainability efforts by taking its first existing building through Green Globes, a store in the Hollywood district of Portland, Oregon, which earned a Three Green Globes Rating.
“If you’re looking for ways to reduce your building footprint or wondering where your facility stands on the green spectrum, this [Green Globes] process has a lot of merit,” Whole Foods Pacific Northwest Region construction manager Bob Gordon said. “The comprehensive evaluation looked at both how the building was built and is operated. It will help us piece together a preventative maintenance program for the whole region. In the long-term, the Green Globes suggestions save money and enhance the facility.”
The Green Globes certification process also incorporates the EPA’s GreenChill Store Certification Program for Food Retailers, which recognizes individual stores for using environmentally friendlier commercial refrigeration systems. Stores also can achieve certification under GreenChill itself.
About the Green Building Initiative™ - The GBI is a nonprofit organization and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standards Developer dedicated to accelerating the adoption of green building practices. Founded in 2004, the organization is the sole U.S. provider of the Green Globes® and federal Guiding Principles Compliance building certification and professional accreditation programs. http://thegbi.org.
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
Miami courthouse design does justice to children and the environment
Suffolk Construction broke ground recently for the Miami-Dade County Children’s Courthouse, a $328 million project the firm has a 30-month contract to complete.
| Apr 12, 2011
Long-awaited San Francisco center is music to jazz organization’s ears
After 28 years, SFJAZZ is getting its first permanent home. The San Francisco-based nonprofit, which is dedicated to advancing the art of jazz through concerts and educational programs, contracted local design firm Mark Cavagnero Associates and general contractor Hathaway Dinwiddie to create a modern performance center in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood
| Apr 12, 2011
Entrance pavilion adds subtle style to Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
A $13 million gift from the Otis Booth Foundation is funding a new entrance pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. CO Architects, Los Angeles, is designing the frameless structure with an energy-efficient curtain wall, vertical suspension rods, and horizontal knife plates to make it as transparent as possible.
| Apr 12, 2011
BIM Grows Up: Separating Hype from Reality in a 3D World
While BIM adoption still lags in both design and construction, some enterprising owners, architects, and contractors are unlocking the potential of this dynamic technology.
| Apr 12, 2011
Metal cladding: Enhancing design with single-skin panels, MCMs, and IMPs
Single-skin metal panels, metal composite panels, and insulated metal panels can add both aesthetic and functional value to your projects, if you use them correctly.
| Apr 12, 2011
American Institute of Architects announces Guide for Sustainable Projects
AIA Guide for Sustainable Projects to provide design and construction industries with roadmap for working on sustainable projects.
| Apr 11, 2011
Wind turbines to generate power for new UNT football stadium
The University of North Texas has received a $2 million grant from the State Energy Conservation Office to install three wind turbines that will feed the electrical grid and provide power to UNT’s new football stadium.
| Apr 8, 2011
SHW Group appoints Marjorie K. Simmons as CEO
Chairman of the Board Marjorie K. Simmons assumes CEO position, making SHW Group the only firm in the AIA Large Firm Roundtable to appoint a woman to this leadership position
| Apr 5, 2011
Zaha Hadid’s civic center design divides California city
Architect Zaha Hadid is in high demand these days, designing projects in Hong Kong, Milan, and Seoul, not to mention the London Aquatics Center, the swimming arena for the 2012 Olympics. But one of the firm’s smaller clients, the city of Elk Grove, Calif., recently conjured far different kinds of aquatic life when members of the City Council and the public chose words like “squid,” “octopus,” and “starfish” to describe the latest renderings for a proposed civic center.
| Apr 5, 2011
Are architects falling behind on BIM?
A study by the National Building Specification arm of RIBA Enterprises showed that 43% of architects and others in the industry had still not heard of BIM, let alone started using it. It also found that of the 13% of respondents who were using BIM only a third thought they would be using it for most of their projects in a year’s time.
