The green parade just keeps on rolling down in Austin, Texas. Today, Office Depot broke ground on its first “green store,” which will integrate a number of energy-efficient designs in its construction and operations.

The new Office Depot in north Austin will be the first office supply retailer in the country to be certified within U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Volume Certification Program.
 
The LEED program promotes environmentally sustainable construction, and includes a set of standards that must be met for certification. Since its inception in 1998, LEED has registered over 14,000 projects in 50 U.S. States and 30 countries.

The new green Office Depot will integrate many green building design elements, including T5 Energy-Efficient Lighting, high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air condition units and insulation, enhanced energy management system, effective temperature controls, skylights and a reflective roof. The store will be built with primarily recycled materials, including steel decking and concrete floors. Water-efficient taps will conserve water, and there will be a number of in-house recycling programs for customers. Much of the furniture that will be sold will have recycled content and remanufactured components.

This new office development is another feather in Mayor Will Wynn's green cap. Wynn is behind Austin’s Climate Protection Plan, which aims to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and make all city facilities, fleets and operations carbon-neutral by 2020.