2Sustain

The US Green Building Council awarded General Mills yet another LEED Gold certification –this one for its expanded production facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Three of General Mills’ company buildings have already earned LEED certification.

Environmental benefits of the expanded production facility include:

• An aggressive recycling program almost eliminating waste paper, plastics, cardboard and packaging.
• A 30 percent reduction in energy use due to the production line’s new proprietary high-efficiency oven.
• A 30 percent reduction in indoor water use with the installation of high-efficiency faucets and low-flow plumbing.
• A 70 percent reduction in irrigation water with the use of native vegetation for landscaping.

The following commitments also contributed to the plant’s certification: (more…)

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division announced last week that its Casa Grande, Arizona, manufacturing facility has reached “near net zero.”

The company’s “near net zero” vision was to transform an existing facility so that it would be as far off the grid as possible, running primarily on renewable energy sources and recycled water, while producing nearly zero landfill waste.

In order to achieve this goal, Frito-Lay invested in and implemented a combination of technologies.

For instance, the Casa Grande facility now generates two-thirds of all energy used from renewable sources.  For example, five separate and distinct solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, installed throughout the property, produce nearly 10 million kilowatt-hours (KWHs) of electrical power. (Two solar fields of single axis tracking PV systems with more than 18,000 solar panels were installed on 36 acres of the facility’s agriculture property. The three additional PV fields include a dual axis tracking system, a single axis covered parking lot and 10 sterling engine dual axis tracking systems.)

In addition, the company is working toward: (more…)

Last week, Kohl’s Department Stores released its first annual corporate sustainability report.

The report, available at www.kohlsgreenscene.com, includes updates on the company’s primary environmental strategies: (more…)

Earlier this month, Tim Hortons, Inc. released its first 2010 Sustainability and Responsibility Report, which includes information about the Company’s 2010 performance, compared to the commitments and goals outlined in the company’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Tim Hortons is the fourth largest publicly-traded restaurant chain in North America based on market capitalization, and the largest in Canada, and the company has outlined several specific goals for the coming years. For instance, Tim Hortons is committed to: (more…)

Last year, a newly-constructed FedEx Express facility in Las Vegas became the company’s first building to receive LEED certification. Then, the FedEx Memphis-based World Headquarters received LEED Gold certification under the USGBC’s LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System.

Now, FedEx Express has announced that LEED Certification is the standard for all of its newly-built US facilities.

LEED, the green building rating system developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) is the leading benchmark for buildings that are designed, constructed and operated sustainably.

According to FedEx, which is an active member of the USGBC, the Las Vegas LEED Gold building provides significant water, energy and waste reduction benefits. For example: (more…)