Safeway in DC earns LEED certification

New York City -- Safeway’s store in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C, has earned LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The 71,067-sq.ft. store is the grocer’s second LEED-certified store, and the first LEED certified store in DC.



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:

• 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 to standard neon signs;


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


• 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


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