The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded Hannaford Supermarkets with Platinum LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Out of approximately 85,000 supermarkets in the U.S., Hannaford is the first supermarket in the country to achieve Platinum LEED certification, the highest standard of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The new store at 118 Cony Street opened on July 25, in Augusta, ME.

"We're thrilled to receive this certification and serve as a role model for other businesses in the retail community. We've been working to improve the environmental performance of our stores for many years," says Ronald Hodge, chief executive officer and president of Hannaford. "Construction of this 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," adds Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. "From its commitment to organic foods to its creation of this store as a green building learning lab for the community, Hannaford's is to be congratulated for its significant achievement."

The Augusta, Maine Hannaford market uses the largest solar array currently operating in the state. Photo courtesy Hannaford.

Some of the store's innovative features include:

• A state-of-the-art GreenChill refrigeration system, which reportedly uses 50% less refrigerant gas than a traditional system. 
• Doors on nearly all freezer and refrigerated cases, which save energy and create a more comfortable in-store temperature for shoppers.
• Water from two geothermal wells, located 750 ft. underground, helps regulate the building's temperature.
  
  "We hope this will be a facility where a lot of things will be experimented, tested, and measured," says Fred Conlogue, director of design services for Hannaford Supermarkets.
  
  "We'll find out what works well, what doesn't work at all, and everything in between."
  
  The new store is expected to use about half as much energy as a typical supermarket of comparable size and amenities. The new store will offer more than 3,500 natural and organic products and hundreds of local products.
  
  Hannaford Supermarkets operates 169 stores and employs more than 27,000 associates in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.