Office Depot ahead in green building competition

BOCA RATON, Fla.— Office Depot announced that Office Depot stores hold the top three spots for retail energy efficiency gains at the midpoint of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star National Building Competition.

The EPA has marked the midpoint of the 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings by releasing a list of top contenders for each building category, as well as the progress of all competitors. The Office Depot store located at 909 N. Central Expressway in Plano, Texas was named the top contender in the retail category, leading all other buildings in this category with a 17% energy reduction at the midpoint in the competition.

Office Depot also holds the number two and three positions in the retail category, with stores in Raleigh and Tallahassee achieving 15% and 13% reductions respectively.

The Energy Star National Building Competition puts teams from 245 buildings around the country head-to-head to see who canreduce their energy use the most. In the first six months of the competition alone, the competitors collectively have saved more than $3.7 million on utility bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by 2,300 homes annually.

“Thanks to the commitment and creativity of our team here at Office Depot, we have made great progress in saving energy and cutting our utility bills as part of EPA’s Energy Star National Building Competition,” said Edward Costa, VP construction for Office Depot. “We’ve received strong support from EPA’s Energy Star program and look forward to even greater success in the remaining months of the competition.”