Last week the United States Green Building Council awarded Hannaford Supermarkets with Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification with the opening of its store in Augusta, ME. Out of approximately 85,000 supermarkets in the U.S., Hannaford is the first supermarket in the country to achieve Platinum level LEED certification.
Some of the store’s energy features include a state-of-the-art GreenChill refrigeration system, which uses 50% less refrigerant gas than a traditional system; doors on nearly all freezer and refrigerated cases; and water from two geothermal wells located 750 feet underground, which help regulate the building’s temperature.
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.
