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Starbucks Coffee Co., the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world, announced the opening of its state-of-the-art roasting plant located in Calhoun County in central South Carolina. The facility employs 100 full-time Starbucks partners (employees) and supplies coffee to the company's southeastern U.S. stores. The facility is also is an example of the company's global commitment to green design and has been awarded LEED® Silver certification for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Using green design components certified by a third-party organization is part of the company's strategy to help achieve the Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ goal to significantly reduce its environmental footprint by 2015. Starbucks invested in a variety of green design elements to help reduce the energy and waste generated by both the construction and operation of the facility. A significant amount – 20 percent – of building materials were from recycled content and over 75 percent of construction waste was recycled. The facility features efficient, state of the art lighting and water fixtures, drought tolerant landscape and a portion of the power used for operations will be green power supplied by wind energy.
Many of the green design elements utilized for the project are also being integrated into the company's other roasting plants and retail stores. Starbucks has committed to LEED certification for all new company-operated stores by the end of 2010, doing so within standard store construction budgets.
Editor's Insight: Starbucks joins a growing list of product and equipment manufacturers who are investing in energy efficient operations. These companies set an example for refreshment service operators as customers are basing more purchasing decisions on environmental concerns.
Even though many customers don't mention this concern to their refreshment service provider, they are nonetheless interested in knowing what their vending and coffee service operators are doing to reduce environmental waste.
Using recycled materials and energy saving products makes good business sense and has strong market value. 02-20-09
