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
| Jan 21, 2011
Manufacturing plant transformed into LEED Platinum Clif Bar headquarters
Clif Bar & Co.’s new 115,000-sf headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., is one of the first buildings in the state to meet the 2008 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The structure has the largest smart solar array in North America, which will provide nearly all of its electrical energy needs.
| Jan 21, 2011
Primate research facility at Duke improves life for lemurs
Dozens of lemurs have new homes in two new facilities at the Duke Lemur Center in Raleigh, N.C. The Releasable Building connects to a 69-acre fenced forest for free-ranging lemurs, while the Semi-Releasable Building is for lemurs with limited-range privileges.
| Jan 21, 2011
Harlem facility combines social services with retail, office space
Harlem is one of the first neighborhoods in New York City to combine retail with assisted living. The six-story, 50,000-sf building provides assisted living for residents with disabilities and a nonprofit group offering services to minority groups, plus retail and office space.
| Jan 21, 2011
Nothing dinky about these residences for Golden Gophers
The Sydney Hall Student Apartments combines 125 student residences with 15,000 sf of retail space in the University of Minnesota’s historic Dinkytown neighborhood, in Minneapolis.
| Jan 21, 2011
Revamped hotel-turned-condominium building holds on to historic style
The historic 89,000-sf Hotel Stowell in Los Angeles was reincarnated as the El Dorado, a 65-unit loft condominium building with retail and restaurant space. Rockefeller Partners Architects, El Segundo, Calif., aimed to preserve the building’s Gothic-Art Nouveau combination style while updating it for modern living.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 21, 2011
Library planned for modern media enthusiasts
The England Run Library, a new 30,000-sf glass, brick, and stone building, will soon house more than 100,000 books and DVDs. The Lukmire Partnership, Arlington, Va., designed the Stafford County, Va., library, the firm’s fourth for the Central Rappahannock Library System, to combine modern library-browsing trends with traditional library services.
| Jan 21, 2011
Virginia community college completes LEED Silver science building
The new 60,000-sf science building at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Va., just earned LEED Silver, the first facility in the Commonwealth’s community college system to earn this recognition. The facility, designed by Burt Hill with Gilbane Building Co. as construction manager, houses an entire floor of laboratory classrooms, plus a new library, student lounge, and bookstore.
| Jan 21, 2011
Upscale apartments offer residents a twist on modern history
The Goodwynn at Town: Brookhaven, a 433,300-sf residential and retail building in DeKalb County, Ga., combines a historic look with modern amenities. Atlanta-based project architect Niles Bolton Associates used contemporary materials in historic patterns and colors on the exterior, while concealing a six-level parking structure on the interior.
| Jan 21, 2011
Research center built for interdisciplinary cooperation
The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital, in Houston, the first basic research institute for childhood neurological diseases, is a 13-story twisting tower in the center of the hospital campus.
