Fairfield to be Hy-Vee’s 2nd “green” store

It’s LEED, Round II.

Hy-Vee has announced that the new store planned as a replacement for Fairfield will be the company’s second built to LEED certification standards. (Madison, WI, our first LEED project, has been submitted for certification and is under review by the U.S. Green Building Council.)

At first glance, this might not seem to be a big deal. If Hy-Vee is already incorporating sustainability features in all our new construction (which we are, and have been doing for quite some time), why not go for LEED certification on every building project?

Well, the LEED certification process is a complicated and time-consuming one. There is a great deal of paperwork involved, as you might imagine, and specific requirements and certification fees that add to the total cost of the project. Our Real Estate and Engineering departments and our Operations team plan to evaluate  projects on a case-by-case basis to determine which ones might a.) qualify for and b.) benefit from the distinction of being LEED certified. In cases where it makes sense (as it does in Fairfield, for a variety of reasons), we’ll take the extra steps required for certification.

But LEED-certified or not, all Hy-Vee stores today are built with an eye toward saving energy, reducing resource consumption, reusing or recycling materials and creating a more livable, more sustainable environment for our employees and customers.