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IKEA Live Oak Store receives LEED Gold Certification

Furniture World News Desk on 7/30/2020


KEA U.S. recently announced that its Live Oak store was awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification Gold level from the US Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the most widely used sustainable buildings rating system in the world and provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving sustainable buildings.

“As part of IKEA's global sustainability and renewable energy initiative, all new IKEA stores must achieve a minimum of LEED Silver Certification," said Fabien Dagher, Construction Project Manager for IKEA Live Oak. “Achieving Gold Certification was a true collaborative effort between IKEA, our LEED design professionals, and contractors.

The LEED certification program assesses building design and construction in terms of energy efficiency, water usage, air quality, choice of building materials, and environmental factors like access to public transportation and responsible land use. Buildings are awarded points for these categories based on the extent that various sustainable strategies are achieved.

Some of the building and site features incorporated into the Live Oak store that helped it achieve LEED Gold status include:

  • Photovoltaic panels to produce clean energy on site
  • Charging stations to support customers with electric vehicles
  • Carpool-preferred parking to encourage customers to carpool to the store to reduce transportation emissions
  • Use of concrete in parking and sidewalks instead of asphalt to reduce global warming effects
  • Low-flow bathroom and kitchen fixtures to reduce the water use in the building by half
  • Well-insulated exterior walls to reduce heat loss and energy used
  • LED lighting to reduce energy consumption
  • High-efficiency heating and cooling system to reduce energy consumption
  • Recycling stations to encourage customers and co-workers to recycle
  • Building materials that are made from recycled ingredients to reduce the impact on the environment
  • Sourcing 75% of the building materials from regional vendors to reduce transportation emissions
  • Paint, finishes, floors, and interior walls are constructed from low-VOC (volatile organic compound) materials to improve the indoor air quality
  • Isolation of chemicals used in the building in separate air-tight rooms to reduce human exposure to cleaning and other chemicals
  • Native plant species to eliminate the need for irrigation

 

Other IKEA LEED-certified buildings in the U.S. include: IKEA Brooklyn, IKEA West Chester, IKEA Portland, IKEA Orlando, IKEA Stoughton, IKEA Oak Creek, the Joliet distribution center, and the US Service Office.

All over the world, IKEA is working vigorously to create a better life for people and the planet. In 2019, IKEA made a commitment to reduce its plastic waste and as of January 2020, it has eliminated all single use plastic from its home furnishing product range. By 2030, IKEA pledged to use only recyclable or renewable-based plastic in its products and packaging materials.

 

 

About the Ingka Group: Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA retail under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centers. Ingka Group is a strategic partner in the IKEA franchise system, operating more than 370 IKEA stores in 30 countries – including the IKEA Planning Studio and 50 stores in the U.S.  Ingka Group operates business under the IKEA vision - to create a better everyday life for the many people by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional and affordable home furnishing products. For more information., visit IKEA-USA.com.