Safeway LEED-ing the way to greener retail with certified D.C. store

NEW YORK — Safeway’s store in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 71,067-sq.-ft. store is the grocer’s second LEED-certified store, and the first LEED certified store in D.C.

The store’s green building elements sunshade screens to reduce solar heat gain, and a storm water drainage system that collects and filters on site runoff from the parking lot and roof. It also features water efficient landscaping, including the use of drip irrigation with a landscape irrigation system water diverted from public sewer system by reuse of defrost waste water. Drought-tolerant native plants that require little or no irrigation help reduce the use of water.

Additional sustainable elements include:

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  White “TPO” roofing, which reduces the heat island effect and decreases cooling requirements for the store; LED lighting in exterior signs, which reduce energy consumption by 80% or more, compared with standard neon signs;

  
  


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  No CFC refrigerants. Safeway exclusively uses R-507 in its refrigeration systems, an HFC refrigerant with low ozone depletion potential;

  
  


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  Protocol-distributed refrigeration systems, which places the compressors closer to the various loads around the store to reduce the amount of copper piping in one store by about 35%. It also reduces the refrigerant charge by approximately 30%; and

  
  


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  Centralized HVAC system, using R-410a, which is more energy efficient than R-22 and has zero-ozone depletion potential.

  
  


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  The Georgetown Safeway reopened last year.