Office Depot Unveils Company's First "Green" Store

July 10, 2008 8:52 AM EDT

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Office Depot(R) (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today will celebrate the grand opening of its first "Green" store, located at 2620 W. Anderson Lane in Austin, TX, with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony scheduled for 2:00 pm. The event will be attended by Office Depot executives, Texas dignitaries, including City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn, local environmental organizations and representatives from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Office Depot's "Green" store, which is pre-certified to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards by the USGBC, will use less energy and water in its daily operations, increase recycling and leave a much smaller overall environmental footprint than the typical store of its size.

"The City of Austin is the birthplace of the USGBC and a leader in our nation's fight against climate change," said City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn. "We are proud that Office Depot chose to select Austin as the site of its green retail prototype. We think what they are doing shows real leadership - and paves the path for more retailers to invest in green building."

Office Depot is the only office supply retailer participating in the USGBC's prestigious Retail Volume Certification Portfolio Program, a pilot group formed to help retailers achieve LEED-Certification at numerous locations and to facilitate the certification process for a company's prototype. Office Depot is the first Company to have its prototype pre-certified under the USGBC's LEED for New Construction Volume Certification Program.

"We are looking forward to taking care of business for our Austin customers at our first pre-certified 'Green' store," said Chuck Rubin, President of North American Retail for Office Depot. "Not only can customers choose from thousands of greener office products within Office Depot's industry-leading assortment but they will also have a better understanding of why a particular product is green and how they can make sustainable products a part of their home office or business environment."

"We took a series of innovative green design elements used in Office Depot store locations across the country and brought them together in our new store prototype," added Ed Costa, Vice President of Construction for Office Depot. "Through the construction phase of this prototype design we used a wide range of greener building products and practices."

    Office Depot Green Store Highlights

    Features of the new Office Depot "Green" store in Austin include:

    --  T5 energy-efficient lighting, which is over 30 percent more
        efficient than traditional, incandescent lighting.

    --  Over 50 active skylights that adjust with the path of the sun
        and provide natural light to over 90 percent of the store.

    --  Solar panels on the roof, which generate about 10 percent of
        the store's energy needs and power the exterior Office Depot
        signage.

    --  Reflective roof which features a membrane that helps to
        prevent absorption of the heat from the sun and keeps the
        interior of the store much cooler.

    --  Steel decking and joists made of over 85 percent recycled
        steel and recycled concrete partitions composed of more than
        95 percent recycled materials.

    --  Water conservation interior fixtures, including dual flush
        toilets, low flow urinals, and automatic shutoff sensors in
        restrooms that will use over 40 percent less water than the
        typical facility.

    --  Exterior Landscaping system featuring xeriscaping, a
        water-efficient technique.

    --  Native plants that require no additional irrigation for
        sustenance.

    --  Energy Management System that allows tracking of energy usage
        and trends from one central location.

    --  Office supplies, technology and furniture options featuring a
        wide range of green attributes such as recycled content,
        remanufactured, EnergyStar certified and non-toxic.

    --  In-store Recycling Center with environmental solutions
        including Office Depot Ink and Toner Cartridge Recycling, Tech
        Recycling Service and Cell Phone and Rechargeable Battery
        Recycling.

Another innovative aspect of the Office Depot green store is a new approach to visual merchandising. The interior walls feature educational vignettes about how the store and product assortment are both greener; customers will be welcomed by an informational board containing interesting facts and details on what makes the store green; and store associates will be armed with tips and recommendations to help customers learn how to green their own business.

Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of Environmental Strategy for Office Depot added: "Office Depot has an environmental vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green. While we have already achieved dramatic reductions in carbon emissions from our existing facilities, this new store takes us to a completely new level of energy efficiency, carbon reduction and waste reduction. The pre-certification of our prototype further establishes Office Depot as the green leader in the office products industry."

Supporting The Austin Community

At today's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Office Depot will also celebrate its commitment to helping to green the City of Austin by having the Office Depot Foundation make a $5,000 donation to Keep Austin Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful which inspires and educates individuals and our community towards greater environmental stewardship. The goals of the organization are to clean, beautify and protect the Austin environment through physical improvements and hands-on education.

For more information on Office Depot's environmental initiatives please visit: http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment. To view the Company's assortment of greener office products, visit www.officedepot.com/buygreen.

About Office Depot

Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,670 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.9 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.5 billion, and employs about 49,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 43 countries.

Office Depot's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.

About USGBC

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since UGSBC's founding in 1993, the Council has grown to include more than 13,500 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED(R) (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating systems, an expansive educational offering, the industry's popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 72 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org. The LEED Green Building Rating System(TM) encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

Source: Office Depot

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