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Office Depot Joins with City of Austin and U.S. Green Building Council to Celebrate Groundbreaking of Company's First ''Green'' Store
DELRAY BEACH, Fla.-(Business Wire)-February 19, 2008 - Office Depot(R) (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today will join with City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn, representatives from the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to celebrate the groundbreaking of the first Office Depot "Green" store at 2320 Anderson Lane in Austin, TX.
Upon completion of the energy and resource-efficient store in Summer 2008, Office Depot's Anderson Lane location will be one of the first registered projects to certify within USGBC's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Volume Certification Program. This enables participants to integrate the LEED green building rating system into new and existing buildings in their company's portfolio. Office Depot is the only office supply retailer participating in the program.
"Office Depot is extremely excited to celebrate the groundbreaking of our first 'Green' store," said Chuck Rubin, President of North American Retail for Office Depot. "With a retail chain of more than 1,200 locations, there are few chances for firsts. The construction of our newest Austin, Texas, location represents our first green store and we are very proud of this initiative. It is a shining example of how Office Depot is committed to taking care of business and taking care of the planet."
"The City of Austin and Office Depot have a strong partnership that goes back nearly two decades," said Austin Mayor Will Wynn. "We are extremely proud that our city has been chosen by Office Depot as the home for the global retailer's first 'green' store. Office Depot's commitment to increasingly 'be green' will only assist Austin in meeting our own goals to improve the city's sustainability."
Office Depot currently has 138 stores in Texas and eight stores in Austin. The Company opened its first location in Austin 18 years ago and chose the environmentally conscious city for its first green store partly because of Mayor Wynn's Austin Climate Protection Plan aimed at reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions and making all city facilities, fleets and operations carbon-neutral by 2020.
Office Depot is one of a select few companies using the Volume Certification process by participating in USGBC's Portfolio Program, a pilot program formed to help retail chains achieve LEED-Certification at numerous locations and to facilitate the certification process for a company's prototype.
"Office Depot's commitment to building green marks their leadership in the retail community," said Justin Doak, Manager of LEED for Retail at USGBC. "The impact that buildings have on our environment is too often overlooked. Office Depot has demonstrated leadership in the retail community as they incorporate sustainable practices into their retail locations - not only in respect to their environmental footprint, but for the well-being of their employees and customers who work and visit the space. We are grateful to Office Depot and all of our other pilot participants for their help in the development and refinement of this innovative program."
The new Green store will integrate many green building design elements, including:
— Energy Reduction: T5 Energy-Efficient Lighting, high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air condition units and insulation, enhanced energy management system, effective temperature controls, skylights and a reflective roof. Outside of the store, there will be a bicycle rack and map and designated parking for hybrid vehicles.
— Waste Reduction: Steel decking and joists made of 60 to 100% recycled steel and a 60% recycled concrete floor; Interior partitions composed of more than 95% recycled materials.
— Water Conservation: Water-efficient taps and flushes in the restroom.
— Green Products: Office Supplies, Technology and Furniture from Office Depot's 4,000-plus assortment of products with green benefits such as recycled content, remanufactured components, energy efficiency and non-toxic chemical use.
— Green Services: Environmental solutions for Office Depot customers including Office Depot's Ink and Toner Cartridge Recycling Program, Tech Recycling Service and Cell Phone and Rechargeable Battery Recycling.
"Office Depot has an environmental vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green," said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Environmental Strategy Advisor for Office Depot. "By becoming the first office supply retailer to "build green" using the LEED volume certification program, we are once again setting a precedent for others in our industry to follow."
"The Austin Chamber is excited to have Office Depot's first LEED-certified green retail store located in Austin," said Jose Beceiro, Director of Clean Energy for the Austin Chamber of Commerce. "Office Depot's commitment to energy conservation, energy efficiency, and low environmental impact retail development matches up seamlessly with Austin's long-term strategy to become a leader in green building design, renewable energy usage, and clean technology innovation. The Austin Chamber thanks Office Depot for choosing Austin to kick-off their green retail store initiative, and looks forward to a long-term partnership towards transforming Austin into the 'Clean Energy Capital of the World.'"
Office Depot's partner on the project is SBLM Architects PC.
For more information on Office Depot's environmental initiatives please visit: http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment/docs/office-depot-env ironment-fact-sheet.pdf. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.) To view the Company's assortment of greener office products, visit www.officedepot.com/buygreen.
Press materials and information related to Office Depot's commitment to the environment and details on the Company's first "Green" store are available at http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment.
About Office Depot
Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company.
Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.5 billion, and employs approximately 52,000 associates around the world. Currently, the Company sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 43 countries.
Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel — from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. As of September 29, 2007, Office Depot had 1,212 retail stores in North America and another 384 stores, either company-owned, licensed or franchised, in other parts of the world. Office Depot serves a wide range of customers through a dedicated sales force, telephone account managers, direct mail offerings, and multiple web sites. With $4.8 billion in online sales during the last twelve months, the Company is also one of the world's largest e-commerce retailers.
Office Depot's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.
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 include more than 13,500 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED(R) (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) 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. The LEED Green Building Rating System(TM) encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.
SBLM Architects PC
SBLM Architects PC is committed to achieving the goals of sustainable architecture - Green buildings. As a Member of the U.S. Green Building Council, SBLM's LEED certified professionals work to ensure that this focus continues to be part of the designer's intention in every facility we work on. Our work includes new buildings, additions, renovations, adaptive re-use and restoration projects.
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