LEED® at Sobeys
New stores provide a great opportunity to implement energy saving initiatives and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating SystemTM has an influence on our building decisions. LEED® was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998 as a third-party certification program and is an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. It was brought to Canada and is managed by the Canadian Green Building Council (www.cagbc.org). LEED® certification is considered on a project-by-project basis. Significant costs are required to become certified and not all of the certification elements are relevant or beneficial to our projects. Therefore, as we develop new stores and distribution centres, our efforts will continue to concentrate on sustainable initiatives aimed at reducing our environmental footprint and operating costs, rather than on achieving certification.
