Newest Hannaford Store Goes Platinum

As expected, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) last week granted Hannaford Supermarkets Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for its newest store, which opened Sunday in Augusta, Maine. Out of about 85,000 U.S. supermarkets, the Delhaize division is the first in the country to achieve such certification, the highest standard of the USGBC.

“We’ve been working to improve the environmental performance of our stores for many years,” said Hannaford CEO and president Ronald Hodge. “[T]his store will allow us to identify additional measures that we can use to reduce our environmental footprint, while maintaining competitive prices and creating a more pleasant atmosphere for our associates and customers.”

“Hannaford’s new LEED Platinum store in Augusta is another example of how this company with deep Maine roots is continuing to provide strong environmental leadership at every level,” added USGBC president, CEO and founding chair Rick Fedrizzi. “From its commitment to organic foods to its creation of this store as a green building learning lab for the community, Hannaford is to be congratulated for its significant achievement.”

The Augusta location’s state-of-the-art green features include a GreenChill refrigeration system, which uses 50 percent less refrigerant gas than a traditional system; doors on almost all freezer and refrigerated cases, which save energy and create a more comfortable in-store temperature for shoppers; and water from two geothermal wells, located 750 feet underground, which helps regulate the structure’s temperature.

The new store is expected to use about half as much energy as a typical supermarket of comparable size and amenities.

Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Supermarkets operates 169 stores and employs more than 27,000 associates in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.