Office Depot is First Retailer to Receive LEED Gold Certification from U.S. Green Building Council

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today announced that its “Green” retail store prototype has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC’s LEED system is widely recognized as the benchmark for green building design, construction, operations and maintenance.

Office Depot received the Gold Rating for the Company’s Store Prototype as well as for its first “Green” retail store in Austin, Texas which opened during the summer of 2008. The Office Depot Austin store was the first location the Company constructed following its environmentally preferable prototype design or master set of drawings. The prototype, which will be utilized for future stores where Office Depot manages the new construction process from the ground up, has now been recognized with Gold Certification, obtaining one of the highest levels of environmental sustainability.

“Office Depot has demonstrated leadership and creativity in the approach they have taken to incorporate sustainable practices into their buildings,” said Doug Gatlin, Vice President of Market Development, U.S. Green Building Council. “We are eager to see Office Depot continue to build state-of-the-art retail environments.”

“We went for Gold and we were successful in accomplishing it,” said Ed Costa, Vice President of Construction for Office Depot. “Achieving LEED Gold Certification for our Austin store and prototype will make the certification process simpler and more efficient for future LEED Certified stores. As a result, we will be able to scale the operational efficiency that LEED certification enables across our store footprint at a more rapid pace.”

A USGBC member since 2007, Office Depot was in the first group of organizations to participate in the LEED Portfolio Program pilot, and the only office products company. USGBC’s Portfolio Program pilot includes 14 retailers as well as a few participants from a variety of other industries. It involves implementing a new volume certification process, integrating LEED attributes into a prototype design, and then applying the prototype design across multiple buildings.

Office Depot’s LEED Gold Certified store and prototype feature a number of green building dimensions and attributes, including but not limited to:

• 37 percent energy cost savings compared to code;
• Photovoltaic solar panels that offset 11 percent of the building’s total annual energy costs;
• Energy efficient T5 lighting throughout the store;
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures and dual-flush toilets to reduce building’s water use by 40 percent;
• Reflective white roof with solar reflectance index of 96 and white concrete pavement to reduce the urban heat island effect;
• Preferred parking for low-emitting, fuel efficient vehicles and carpool/vanpool;
• Recycling program for collection of corrugated cardboard, paper, plastics, ink/toner cartridges and technology;
• 83 percent of the generated construction waste has been diverted from landfill and 25 percent of the total materials cost is made up of recycled content;
• Active solar tracking skylights by Ciralight provide daylighting for over 75 percent of the store;
• Finish materials, including adhesives and sealants, carpet, paints, and composite wood are specified with low-VOC requirements; and a
• Comprehensive Green Education program, including green signage throughout the store and employee training.

“Buildings contribute to over 40 percent of global carbon emissions,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “By obtaining LEED Gold Certification for our store prototype, we have embedded low-carbon principles into our most material source of carbon - our retail stores. We are very proud of this accomplishment and the commitment demonstrated by Office Depot’s construction team. We are excited to continue to lead the office products industry with our global environmental strategy to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green.”

For more information on Office Depot’s “Green” certified store prototype, please visit http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment/build-green.asp.

About the LEED Rating System

The USGBC’s LEED rating system has four levels of certification: LEED Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. A LEED Certified project is one that has been registered, reviewed and verified by the USGBC as a building that is on a sustainable site, is energy and water-efficient, uses less materials and resources and maintains a high level of indoor environmental air quality.

About Office Depot

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,705 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.9 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.1 billion, and employs about 49,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 48 countries.

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.

Press materials and background information specific to Office Depot’s environmental and sustainable construction initiatives and product offerings are available at http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment.

About USGBC

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization with a vision of 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 more than 18,000 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® green building certification systems, an expansive educational offering, the industry’s popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 78 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.