Frito-Lay receives LEED Gold Certification

Frito-Lay of North America’s Plano headquarters was honored Tuesday with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification plaque recognizing the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and become more self-sustainable.

The plaque, issued by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute, serves as a visual reminder of the company’s dedication to sustainability.

The headquarters is the only existing building in Texas to receive this distinction and one of only 12 corporate headquarters to receive this distinction nationally.

“Frito-Lay, and our parent company PepsiCo, have a long history of environmental sustainability. Since 1999, Frito-Lay has implemented resource conservation programs that utilize innovative programs to reduce the resources needed to make our products,” said George Guck, director of facilities and corporate services, Frito-Lay North America. “It was imperative to also look at ways to improve resource use at headquarters. The USBGC LEED Certification validates those headquarter initiatives to reduce energy, conserve water use and increase recycling, and to bolster these sustainability goals company-wide.”

The company’s efforts have been recognized by national, state and local governments across the country, encouraging company officials to continue striving toward the goal of sustainability.

Tuesday’s recognition is the culmination of two years of work for the Frito-Lay headquarters. The company overhauled its sustainability strategy to include implementing a number of green design and construction features, water reduction technologies and practices. The company also diverts more than 70 percent of its wastes from landfills, Guck said.

The company is equipped to use a solar thermal water heating system, which uses light from the sun to heat all the hot water in the building.

Guck said that one small change reduced energy consumption by 130,000 kilowatt-hours -- enough energy to power 2,498 homes for one day.

The change also eliminated more than 154,000 pounds of greenhouse gases from being emitted into the atmosphere since installation in 2008.

The building uses a variety of high-efficiency systems to further reduce the company’s carbon footprint, including chillers that reduce annual energy consumption and eliminate the use of ozone-depleting refrigerants; a daylight harvesting system that turns off indoor lights when there is enough sunlight in the area, and landscaping that uses native and adaptive plants to reduce water consumption and soil erosion.

The company also educates its employees. Frito-Lay hosts an annual Eco Fair for its associates to showcase local green vendors. The information, services and products are resources employees can take home and to their communities.

“Frito-Lay’s Environmental Green Team made this process easy. These associates have great pride in delivering their best each day, and are always looking for ways to improve the company’s environmental footprint,” Guck said. “We will continue to look at new technologies to further reduce energy consumption. Frito-Lay is also pursuing LEED certification on a number of our manufacturing facilities around the country.”

Plano Mayor Phil Dyer said he is proud that local businesses are incorporating more environmentally friendly habits into their cultures.

“Green sustainability is certainly a focus of what we’re doing at the city,” he said. “In the last few days, I’ve attended three events for facilities that have been LEED recognized and certified.”

Dyer said when Frito-Lay first moved to the Plano area 25 years ago, the company built a state-of-the-art building and has since been a good corporate citizen and part of the Plano and North Texas community.

“It says a lot for Frito-Lay’s Plano headquarters to have achieved the LEED Existing Building Gold Certification. It’s far easier to work toward the LEED Certification goal when you’re building a brand new building,” he said. “For Frito-Lay to do it on a 25-year-old building was extraordinary. It sends the message not only to employees, customers and vendors, but also to the community that we all have a part in the sustainability of our environment. I salute them and honor them for making the commitment to do this.”

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