Golub Corp. Stores Earn Eco-Friendly Recognition

The Golub Corp., parent company of Price Chopper Supermarkets, Market Bistro and Market 32, has been recognized by several different organizations for its energy-efficient, environmentally friendly stores.

“Consistent with our focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, we are committed to designing, constructing and remodeling stores (Market 32 conversions) that reduce energy usage and invest in sustainable and renewable technology," said Mona Golub, VP of public relations and consumer services for the Schenectady, N.Y.-based regional retailers. "We’re proud of the fact that our customers and teammates recognize and appreciate the high environmental performance standards that we’ve set for ourselves.”

Golub continued: “We’re so very proud to share this recognition with our teammates, as it reflects our ongoing effort to be among the leading retailers in the nation that are building and maintaining energy efficient and environmentally friendly stores."

The two recently constructed Price Chopper stores were certified by the U.S. Green Building Council under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) national certification for retail building standard. The Watervliet, N.Y., store earned Silver LEED certification while the Storrs, Conn., store received a baseline LEED certification. (Buildings designed and constructed to LEED standards are frequently certified one to two years after full occupancy.)

In total, The Golub Corp. has built or remodeled 10 LEED certified stores and maintains LEED Gold-certified status at its corporate headquarters building.

Additionally, three remodeled Market 32 stores in Pittsfield, Mass., Clifton Park and Wilton, N.Y., along with one new ground-up Market 32 in Sutton, Mass., have been awarded third-party certification under Green Globes, a nationally recognized green rating system for new and existing buildings established by the Green Building Initiative.

In total, the company currently owns and operates more than 1 million square feet of third party-certified green building space, which represents one of the most significant green building accomplishments of any national food retailer.

“The Mansfield Downtown Partnership is very pleased that the Storrs-Mansfield Price Chopper store has received LEED status," said Cynthia van Zelm, executive director of Mansfield Downtown Partnership Inc. “It is a testament to Price Chopper that the company and its architects took this seriously, addressing the guidelines very thoroughly, and applying for LEED status as they have done with many of their other stores.”

Continuing a longstanding tradition of award-winning excellence in refrigeration design, Three Price Chopper stores in New York’s Capital Region – Chatham, Watervliet and Colonie – have been certified/recertified as qualifying for GreenChill recognition, for streamlining and reducing the use of refrigerants as part of its continuing environmental stewardship efforts.

The Price Chopper Supermarket located in Colonie has been recertified at the platinum level for employing state-of-the-art refrigeration technology. In 2009, the store was awarded the EPA’s GreenChill "Best of the Best – Best GreenChill Certified Store," which is the highest level of GreenChill gold-level certification ever achieved by a food retailer at the time.

GreenChill is a voluntary program run by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is designed to reduce the use of refrigerants with high global warming and ozone-depletion potential in grocery stores. The GreenChill Store Certification Awards Program recognizes retail stores that achieve at least a 50 percent reduction in refrigerant charge and a 75 percent reduction in refrigerant emissions.

The company not only practices and implements sustainable technologies in its stores but also in its support facilities, such as its Rotterdam, N.Y., distribution center, which in April 2015 underwent a major LED lighting conversion. The project has since produced a reduction in annual electric usage of more than 3,600 megawatt hours, which is equivalent to removing 518 cars from the road, saving 332,377 gallons of gasoline or planting 804 acres of trees, according to EPA calculations

The Golub Corp. further pursues a variety of other environmentally sustainable best management practices for the design, construction and remodeling for all Price Choppers/Market 32 stores, as well. Some of the best management practices include:

• Recycling more than 75 percent of construction waste (rather than disposing of it in landfills or incinerators) on all new ground-up construction projects.
• Designing to use natural lighting throughout the store thereby reducing energy consumption.
• Utilizing environmentally sustainable building materials throughout the store with a high degree of recycled content.
• Installing state-of-the-art refrigeration technology to minimize the use of refrigerants with high ozone depletion and global warming potential.
• Recovering waste heat from refrigeration systems for reuse in space heating and hot water production at store level.
• Food waste composting and alternative organics diversion through an anaerobic digestion process which reduces the produce to “gray water” and eliminates waste from being transported and disposed of at landfills (at select store locations).
• Utilizing high-efficiency lighting systems throughout the store and in exterior signage

The Golub Corp. owns and operates 135 Price Chopper and Market 32 grocery stores in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Golub’s 21,000 teammates collectively own more than 47 percent of the company’s privately held stock, making it one of the nation’s largest predominantly employee-owned private companies.