Sainsbury's takes delivery of a 'gold' green apple

Sainsbury's distribution centre at Pineham, Northampton has won a Green Apple Award for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage. The building, which is one of the most environmentally friendly of its kind in Europe, won a National Gold Award.  The accolade was announced at a prestigious awards ceremony at The Tower of London. The Green Apple Awards, presented by The Green Organisation, are part of an annual international campaign to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world.

Sainsbury's state-of-the-art distribution centre was completed in 2007. It was developed by Prologis and the planning authority was the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation. The 618,000 sq ft building is a highly energy efficient, carbon neutral facility. There is an on-site recycling unit and the rainwater harvesting system saves 16 million litres of water a year. The building achieved an 'excellent' rating from BREEAM, which is the leading assessment method for the environmental performance of buildings.

Adrian Arnold, Director of Planning Services at WNDC said: "The Pineham distribution centre is one of the greenest buildings of its kind.  Sainsbury's and Prologis have really pushed the boundaries and produced an exemplar scheme, setting a new standard for similar buildings to follow.  We were delighted to help enable such a forward thinking, 21st century building"

Andy Griffiths, MD of ProLogis UK, said: "The building is among the most environmentally advanced distribution facilities in the world. ProLogis has made a corporate commitment to be the global leader in sustainable warehouse design. We recognise that experience and expertise in this area will be a key success factor for industrial developers in the future, in order to meet more stringent regulatory requirements and the demands of customers concerned about corporate social responsibility. We're very pleased to be partnering with Sainsbury's on this state-of-the-art development, which delivers significant operational efficiencies and long-lasting environmental benefits."

Roger Burnley, Retail and Logistics Director, J Sainsbury plc, said: "Sustainability is one of our core company values, so we are extremely pleased that so many sustainable design features have been incorporated into our new distribution facility at Pineham."

The Distribution centre serves 50 stores and handles 1.5 million cases per week. It incorporates a number of environmental features and technologies to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. This includes wall-mounted photovoltaic panels that generate electricity; solar walls that produce heat from sunlight, and an on-site combined heat and power plant.

It also has an on-site recycling facility; energy efficient lighting systems; and air-tight construction that minimises energy loss through the external fabric of the building. The distribution centre is up to 75 per cent more energy-efficient than a standard facility.