SANDY RUN, S.C. - The Starbucks Coffee Company logo is not the only thing green about this Seattle-based company.

Starbucks is taking a lead in The Times and Democrat Region as it seeks to have its new Calhoun County roasting facility certified as a green building through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.

LEED is a third-party national certification program which recognizes sustainability by performance in five areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Starbucks is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of our operations, including at our roasting plants, retail stores and corporate headquarters buildings,” said Anna Johnson, Starbucks Coffee Company senior projects engineer. “LEED is simply the preeminent, objective system that provides verification to the green building claims we make as a company.

“It also establishes an excellent benchmark to compare buildings across the real estate spectrum.”

Starbucks applied to become LEED-certified in Jan. 2007 as the company began to design the 150,000-square-foot coffee roasting facility it is building at the Tri-County Electric Cooperative Industrial Park. Starbucks is the first company to locate in the 325-acre industrial park near Interstate 26.

Starbucks plans to invest $70 million and employ approximately 160 over the next five years at the facility. The facility is expected to be operational by late 2008.

As part of the LEED process, Starbucks has registered with the USGBC and has completed a checklist showing which LEED points it intends to pursue. For example, a building can receive LEED points for consuming less energy than is required by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers building standards.

Johnson said the feedback has been encouraging.

“As we are now in the construction phase of the project, we are conducting routine site visits to ensure that construction practices are followed and the appropriate paperwork is collected,” she said.

Credits for LEED certification are broken down into design and construction categories. Some of the credits associated with design for Sandy Run include:

* Supplying parking spaces for alternative vehicles and van pools.

* Establishing plans for storm water quantity and quality control.

* Providing a high ratio of open space on the site compared to the developed footprint.

* Modeling the building design to validate optimized energy performance.

* Daylighting 75 percent of spaces within the facility.

Construction credits will be submitted in these areas:

* Managing construction waste to promote recycling and reuse.

* Specifying building materials which are manufactured within 500 miles of the plant.

* Specifying building materials which have a high percentage of recycled content.

* Using low-emitting materials for adhesives, paints and carpets.

* Providing a third-party commissioning agent to see the facility through design, construction and system validation.

Once all the building’s green elements are verified on the LEED checklist, the application is submitted to the USGBC for certification.

Depending on the total number of points awarded, the building will receive a certification level ranging from “certified” to “platinum.”

After the completion of building, there will be a 30- to 180-day window before the building receives official LEED certification.

“As an agricultural company, the issue of reducing the environmental footprint and the affect on climate change is very important to us,” Starbucks Environmental Affairs Manager Jim Hanna said, noting that there is no cost too high to protect the environment.

While seeking LEED certification may cost more upfront, company officials expect those costs to be offset through reduced energy bills.

“It is not really about cost,” Starbucks Sandy Run Plant Director Ed Mills said. “It is about doing the right thing.”

Calhoun County Development Commission Executive Director Pat Black praised the company’s decision to pursue LEED certification, joking that Starbucks is, “as green as their aprons.”

“From our association with Starbucks, it is very committed to environmental leadership in all facets of its business,” Black said. “We support their application for the green building certification.

As the building rises up out of the ground, we know the building and Starbucks will be environmentally responsible, a healthy place to work and profitable.”

LEED began in 1994 and was spearheaded by Natural Resources Defense Council scientist Robert Watson. LEED rating systems are developed through a consensus-based process led by LEED committees. Each volunteer committee is composed of a group of practitioners and experts representing a cross-section of the building and construction industry.

As of Feb. 2008, there were 17 LEED-certified buildings in South Carolina and about 50 more registered or expected to receive certification, according to the S.C. Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. All certified projects receive a LEED plaque, which is the nationally recognized symbol demonstrating that a building is environmentally responsible and a healthy place to live and work.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551.

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