Office Depot earns LEED gold for green prototype

BOCA RATON, Fla. Office Depot 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).

Office Depot received the Gold Rating for its 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.

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

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.