Sprouts’ Westlake, CA Store Earns the Country’s 3rd GreenChill Platinum

Sprouts Farmers Market’s Westlake Village, Calif. store is the first in the state – and one of only three stores in the nation -- to earn the EPA’s GreenChill Platinum-Level Store Certification Award for its efforts in green refrigeration technology.

The GreenChill Partnership is a voluntary business-government program managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the goal of reducing emissions of refrigerants that damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer and contribute to global warming.

“Sprouts Farmers Market shares the EPA’s commitment to decreasing refrigerant emissions through innovative refrigeration design and leak tight practices in our existing and future stores,” said Jerry Stutler, VP of construction and facility engineering for the Phoenix-based natural and organic foods retailer. “We are committed to being an environmentally conscious neighbor and grocer.”

To achieve “platinum” certification, a store must meet stringent environmental criteria, including:
Only using refrigerants that do not damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer.
Reducing the size of its refrigerant charge by at least 85 percent from the industry average.
Reducing annual refrigerant emissions to 5 percent or less of total store capacity.
Achieving 100 percent leak tightness at installation, following GreenChill's Leak Tightness Guideline.

"Sprouts has been pushing the boundaries of environmentally-friendly store design ever since they joined the GreenChill Partnership," said Keilly Witman, manager of EPA's GreenChill Partnership. "Its platinum store, the only platinum store in the Western U.S., is the latest example of their drive to one-up themselves. Sprouts looked at silver- and gold-level store certification awards as stepping stones to achieving the best.”

Sprouts joined the GreenChill Partnership in 2008, and currently has eight EPA-certified stores. The Westlake Village store will receive the Platinum Certification Award on May 17.