Price Chopper Aiming to Open New York’s First LEED-Certified Supermarket
Stephen Del Percio
Schenectady-based Price Chopper Supermarkets has broken ground in Colonie on what’s set to become New York’s first LEED-certified supermarket, just north of Albany. The 69,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open up sometime in early 2009, and Price Chopper hopes to use the project as a template for future green supermarkets across the Northeast. A fuel cell from UTC Power will supply 60 percent of the supermarket’s electricity requirements, as well as 400 kilowatts of standby power in the event of a grid outage. The supermarket will recover heat from its refrigeration equipment and use it as space heating. Other green design features are LEED-standard, including locally-sourced construction materials and energy-efficient lighting. The company worked with NYSERDA during the design phase in order to qualify for various tax incentives from the agency under its green building programs.
