Sprouts Farmers Market wins environmental award

By Community Impact Newspaper Staff Thursday, 04 February 2010

ROUND ROCK — Sprouts Farmers Market in Round Rock recently earned gold certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of its use of green refrigeration technology.

The Round Rock location is the first in Texas and one of 13 grocers in the nation to win the GreenChill Gold-Level Store Award, which is presented by the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership. Under this program, businesses work with the EPA to reduce emissions of refrigerants that damage the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.

To achieve gold certification, a store must meet the following criteria:
• Use refrigerants that do not damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer.
• Reduce the size of its refrigerant charge by at least 65 percent from the industry average.
• Reduce annual refrigerant emissions to 15 percent or less of total store capacity.
• Test refrigeration systems for adherence to GreenChill's leak tightness guidelines.

Sprouts, which has 44 stores in four states, joined the GreenChill partnership last May. The Round Rock store opened in September.

Visit www.sprouts.com.