Rule the (Clean) Air: Greening Verizon’s stores
without changing the brand expression
Photos: Kenneth A. Gruskin, AIA
When Verizon Wireless set out
several years ago to green its portfolio, the
retailer didn’t want the brand identity to
be compromised for sustainability. So an
“Evolution” prototype was requested that
would typically achieve LEED Silver without
changing the look and feel of the brand or
the customer’s in-store experience—without
significantly increasing the cost of a store
project. Ultimately, the store exceeded the
certification goal, earning LEED Gold.
Since then, 75 additional Verizon Wireless
locations have attained LEED certification,
with more underway as part of the LEED
Volume Program for Commercial Interiors.
The target is LEED Silver, but many of the
stores achieve Gold. With a next-generation
store prototype now in development and
testing, the pace is expected to continue.
But that first project, a 3,500-square-
foot store in Casper, Wy., proved architect
Kenneth A. Gruskin’s contention that greening a store need not change the expression
of the company’s brand.
“The most remarkable thing about the project is that it’s unremarkable,” says Gruskin,
principal of Gruskin Group. “The goal was for
green to not get in the way of the primary
function of the store—customers making
connections. Verizon still wanted to look like
a technology company, and they do.”
Verizon Wireless accomplished a LEED Gold-certified “Evolution” prototype without
affecting the look or feel of its brand or the customer’s in-store experience.
Key Sustainability
Performance Metrics
• Water savings of 48% from ePAct
baseline
• 56% of construction waste diverted
from landfills
• 26% recycled content in materials
• regional manufacture of
approximately 50% of materials
• 56% less lighting power load than
required by AshrAe 90.1
Minor Effort …
In fact, the company’s standard store prototype did not need to be altered significantly
to meet the green building goals, Gruskin
says. Many of the existing material specifications were close to what was needed, only
requiring a tweak here and there to minimize VOCs.
Roughly half of the materials used in the
Casper, Wy., location were manufactured
regionally. Gruskin says that finding local
materials isn’t as onerous as is often believed
in retail. “For the Casper store, much of the
store is cabinetry and the site was close to
the millwork manufacturer,” he explains.
Leggett & Platt Store Fixtures Group manu-
factured and installed all of the fixturing, and
many of the materials Leggett & Platt used
were also sourced within 500 miles. This
helped the project earn two LEED points for
regional materials, credits intended to sup-
port the regional economy and reduce the
impact from transportation. (Illustrating
Verizon’s commitment to sustainable prac-
tices, the team continues to use regional
materials for other green store builds even
though it usually opts not to pursue the LEED
point due to paperwork requirements.)
