Wegmans Store Wins Green Globes
GERMANTOWN, Md. — The Green Building Initiative here said Wednesday that Wegmans Food Markets has been awarded a “two Green Globes ” certification for its store here.
October 31, 2013
GERMANTOWN, Md. — The Green Building Initiative here said Wednesday that Wegmans Food Markets has been awarded a “two Green Globes” certification for its store here.
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The Green Globes building assessment and certification program awards qualifying buildings one through four Globes based on environmental achievements in management, site, energy, water, materials and resources, emissions, and indoor environment.
Green Globes, an alternative to LEED, is administered in the U.S. by the GBI. Its web-based program for green building guidance and certification includes an on-site assessment by a third party. The newly released version of Green Globes for New Construction incorporates specific refrigeration criteria as outlined by EPA's GreenChill Certification for grocery stores.
"We are pleased to be recognized by GBI for our efforts to mitigate the environmental impacts of building our Germantown, Maryland store," said Kevin Marren, Wegmans project manager in store planning. "Our new store design is consistent with our corporate goals of reducing energy consumption and minimizing our carbon footprint while giving our customers and employees a healthy indoor environment to work and shop in."
Read more: Whole Foods Embraces Green Globes, a LEED Alternative
In achieving points within the energy section of the Green Globes tool, Wegmans integrated daylight sensors with the lighting fixtures in the general seating area, the café and in the general merchandise areas where there is natural light from skylights or windows. In addition, a building automation system monitors the equipment in the store and Wegmans will be alerted via email that there are energy spikes when problems occur.
The store also uses a heat exchanger that collects and captures heat from the refrigeration system; in turn this reused heat helps generate hot water within the building.
Read more: Green Globes Certification to Include GreenChill Standards