April 7, 2003—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named Food Lion an “ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year” for its reductions in energy consumption through energy management leadership. This is the second consecutive year Food Lion has earned the designation. Food Lion is the only supermarket company to receive the honor, as it was in 2002.
Food Lion, a partner in the program since 1998, is being honored for adopting and applying energy management practices and technology throughout its store operations. In 2002, Food Lion greatly reduced its energy consumption by upgrading and refining its stores’ lighting, heating, and refrigeration systems. Even though the supermarket chain added new stores and increased its square footage by approximately 2.2 percent, Food Lion’s total energy consumption dropped by more than 415 billion Btu. For 2003, Food Lion projects its total energy consumption will decline by more than 300 billion Btu, despite plans to open additional stores.
Food Lion’s current store designs save more than 86,000 kWh per year—enough to power nine American homes for an entire year. The energy savings at each store also prevent 190,920 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, equal to removing the pollution of 19 cars or planting nearly 26 acres of trees.
More than 30 Food Lion stores have earned the ENERGY STAR designation from the EPA, indicating they are some of the most energy-saving grocery stores in the United States. Approximately 70 stores nationwide carry the ENERGY STAR label. Food Lion plans to secure the designation for about 100 stores by the end of 2003.
The Partner of the Year award is given to a variety of organizations to recognize their efforts to use energy efficiently in their own facilities and integrate energy efficiency into their organizational strategy. These award winners are selected from thousands of organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program.
