By AMANDA HOFFMANN
Between fresh-cut flowers and a pile of coconuts, a podium and microphone were set up near the entrance of the store, which opened in June 2008.
"Our mission is to transform how buildings are constructed, and we can't do that alone," said Art Desin, chairman of the Long Island chapter of the USGBC, a nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders. He stood under a skylight that supplements the store's lighting system, which automatically detects how much natural light filters in and adjusts its brightness accordingly.
Wild by Nature was awarded Gold certification by the USGBC, which developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. New construction is offered four levels of certification - Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum - which correspond to the number of credits accrued in several design categories.
"The Wild by Nature market is the first known supermarket to be LEED Gold Certified in New York," said Desin. "I would like to commend LIPA, National Grid and Wild by Nature for working together and taking a leading role in energy efficiency."
During the store's planning and construction, Wild by Nature, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of the King Kullen Grocery Company, participated in LIPA's Commercial Construction Program, also earning the distinction of being the first company to receive LIPA LEED Green Building Credit incentives.
"In this rough economic climate, it is encouraging to have local businesses like Wild by Nature participate in LIPA's Commercial Construction Program," said LIPA President and CEO Kevin Law. "By becoming more energy-efficient, local businesses can sharpen their competitive edge, enhance their bottom line and help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels."
According to LIPA, by employing the authority's whole building comprehensive approach, this Wild by Nature building will save 316,500 kilowatt-hours of energy annually, a savings of approximately $57,000 per year. That is enough energy to power more than 30 average-sized Long Island homes, said LIPA officials.
"Our next best energy resource is energy efficiency," said Law. "This is the power plant that we don't have to build."
LIPA awarded Wild by Nature $169,962 in incentives and services, which includes $25,000 for energy modeling, $24,250 for commissioning and $108,712 for commercial construction rebates. LIPA has also awarded the supermarket $12,000 in LEED credit rebates. In addition, National Grid has rebated Wild by Nature $6,256 in gas efficiency savings.
"Those saving will translate into greenhouse gas reductions," said Joe Rende, vice president of Energy Solutions Services, Metro NY, at National Grid. "This is what we call the power of action, of people taking things into their own hands."
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