Office Depot HQ earns EPA’s Energy Star certification for second consecutive year

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot announced that the company’s global headquarters, located in Boca Raton, Fla., has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification for the second consecutive year. The certification signifies the building performs in the top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency.



"As part of Office Depot’s commitment to be greener, we continue to invest in energy efficiency,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, senior director of environmental strategy for Office Depot. "By pursuing EPA’s Energy Star as well as the LEED Gold certification we already have at our headquarters, we further demonstrate our commitment to third party verification of environmental claims.”



Commercial buildings that earn the Energy Star certification use an average of 35% less energy than typical buildings and also release 35% less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Energy-saving actions that Office Depot took to earn the Energy Star certification at its headquarters included:

• Changing 15,000 lights from 32 watt T5 lamps to more efficient 27 watt T5 lamps for the building interior;

• Changing parking garage lamps from 150-watt metal-halide to 42-Watt fluorescents;

• Reducing the number of lamps on during the daylight hours by 70%; and

• Reducing standard building operating hours from 66 hours to 60 hours per week.

By using some of the savings enabled by these measures, Office Depot purchased sufficient Renewable Energy Credits to establish its global headquarters as Carbon Neutral for 2012. In addition, Office Depot was recently recognized as an Energy Star Leader for 2012, having become the first large retailer in the United States to achieve a verified portfolio-wide energy reduction of over 30% (compared to 2004).