Tampa, Fla. — Six Sprouts Farmers Market grocery stores in Florida have been awarded Manomet’s Grocery Stewardship Certification (GSC), bringing the total number of Sprouts stores in the GSC to 90. The GSC recognizes Sprouts’ commitment to operational best practices that reduce a store’s environmental impact, reduce operating costs and save resources. The certification for the Florida stores is the latest sustainability milestone for Sprouts, one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country. “Sprouts Farmers Market takes sustainability seriously,” says Peter Cooke, director of retail sustainability for Manomet. “Sprouts believes …
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Los Angeles — Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), a premier global developer and operator of flagship shopping destinations, has revealed details of its global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program — the most ambitious of its kind for a listed retail real estate company. Called “Better Places 2030”, the CSR program will now formally extend to the United States and the United Kingdom, which were a part of the acquisition of Westfield by Unibail-Rodamco last year. Broadly, the program commits URW to reduce its total carbon footprint 50% by the year 2030 across every …
Boca Raton, Fla. — Office Depot, Inc. has released its 2019 Corporate Sustainability Report, incorporating sustainability information for Office Depot, CompuCom and Grand & Toy. Additionally, the report contains the company’s public-facing sustainability goals around energy consumption, transportation emissions and local communities. “We are committed to decreasing the company’s environmental impact through waste diversion programs, greener packaging, transportation innovations and product solutions that extend throughout the lifecycle,” says Gerry Smith, chief executive officer for Office Depot, Inc. “We look at sustainability as another challenge we can help our customers address. …
Seattle — LevelTen Energy has closed a three-project renewable energy portfolio purchased by Starbucks, comprising wind and solar farms in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas. The power purchase agreement portfolio will provide clean power to the electricity grids that serve more than 3,000 U.S. Starbucks stores and communities by 2021, when all three projects are online. The portfolio was purchased from developers ALLETE Clean Energy, Apex Clean Energy, BayWa r.e. and Cypress Creek Renewables. Custom-built for Starbucks using LevelTen Energy’s technology-enabled procurement platform, the portfolio aggregates three strategically-located power purchase …
Los Angeles — CBRE, Iron Mountain and Redaptive have won the 2019 Professional Excellence Award conferred by CoreNet Global. The combined team was recognized for accelerating environmental improvements and cost reduction via an innovative Efficiency-as-a Service (EaaS) delivery model. CBRE’s energy managers, in collaboration with Iron Mountain’s Global Real Estate and Sustainability leadership, developed a multi-year energy strategy to improve facility efficiency and sustainability. Within this strategy, Redaptive and CBRE are implementing a unique, portfolio-wide, turnkey solution, backed by transparent measurement and verification reporting. The approach allows Iron Mountain to …
Washington, D.C. — On April 22, 2019 (Earth Day), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) unveiled a new initiative identifying U.S. retailers committed to taking leadership action to reduce potent greenhouse gases used in cooling, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). As part of this initiative, ALDI U.S. intends to add 100 more stores in 2019 with HFC-free refrigeration systems. “In a time of acute need for leadership on climate change, the U.S. retail sector has remained a laggard in adopting climate-friendly cooling compared to their counterparts in rest of the developed world,” says Avipsa …
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Furniture retailer City Furniture has set the complex operational goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. Its 2040 Green Promise goal encompasses the company’s showrooms, warehouses and offices, its statewide delivery fleet and recycling initiatives, according to firm President Andrew Koenig. The company leads the U.S. furniture industry with 240,000 square feet of LEED-certified showroom space and is converting its delivery truck fleet to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of diesel fuel. Operating the industry’s greenest fleet, Koenig’s team expects delivery of five all-electric …
— By Ray Hatch — Turn changing regulations into new opportunities. As cities and states begin pushing harder toward their zero-waste goals, new regulations are being put into effect that will change the way businesses operate. For restaurants and food production, these new regulations are already being put into place across the country and can have staggering impacts on your workflows, production and profits. But it’s not all scary fines and penalties — in fact, if you do it right, you can take advantage of these changing regulations from something …
Porter Ranch, Calif. — With opening a couple months away, The Vineyards already is generating anticipation as Southern California’s newest upscale and pedestrian-friendly shopping and entertainment center. What’s more, The Vineyards will also feature some of the region’s latest and most sustainable operating systems and eco-friendly fixtures.
Atlanta — The Home Depot® has been highlighted as a global leader on corporate climate action and continues to pursue its sustainability goals with new renewable energy initiatives in 2019. CDP, an environmental impact non-profit, has named The Home Depot to its Climate Change “A” List for its actions to cut carbon emissions and mitigate climate risks.