Delray Beach, Fla. — Office Depot announced that it had achieved a “10.1 percent absolute reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas and electricity consumed in its North American retail stores, warehouses and offices.”
The company said that between 2005 and 2006 it reduced electricity consumption by approximately 65 million kilowatt hours and natural gas by 50,000 mmBTU. The company noted that it made these cuts while simultaneously expanding its North American footprint by 1.7 million square feet.
“Office Depot’s environmental strategy is structured around a vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, environmental strategy advisor for Office Depot. “By reducing greenhouse gases so dramatically in one year, we have clearly shown a commitment to being green and reducing our carbon footprint.”
According to a release, Office Depot was able to reduce its emissions because it implemented a series of initiatives to decrease energy use in 2006, including:
- retrofitting the company’s North American retail store chain with T5 energy-efficient lights;
- installing new high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning units;
- adding light-sensors in stores to automatically turn off lighting when bathrooms and break rooms are not occupied; and
- rolling out an energy management system upgrade to the majority of stores, allowing for the tracking of energy usage and trends from a central location; setting of temperatures for all stores; identification of energy use anomalies (e.g. lights left on overnight, malfunctioning AC units, doors left open); and central notification when these anomalies occur, which allows management to fix any issues remotely or notify store managers immediately.
Office Depot said that it recently joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program. It also said utility company Southern California Edison recognized its sustainability initiatives with the Flex Your Power Award.
