Verizon Wireless recently opened its first store to seek LEED certification for commercial interiors. Design firm Gruskin Group developed Verizon Wireless’ latest store design and adapted the prototype to existing retail tenant space in the Eastridge Mall Shopping Center in Casper, Wy., to create a model for green commercial interiors.

Gruskin Group worked with Verizon Wireless’s internal corporate design team, as well as Paladino and Co., the team’s sustainability consultant, to design the 3,479-sq.-ft. Casper store with the goal of achieving a LEED Gold rating from the USGBC. “We evaluated every material that went into the prototype, lighting design, mechanical and electrical systems, plumbing fixtures, construction process, as well as the sourcing of all building materials, with the goal of developing a dynamic retail environment that reduces its impact on the environment,” said Kenneth A. Gruskin, principal and founder of Gruskin Group. “Our intent was to demonstrate that green stores could be built without significantly increasing the cost of the project, or impacting the customer experience or look and feel of the Verizon Wireless brand.”

The store is not only expected to be the first LEED-certified retail store in Casper, but also one of only six LEED-certified projects in Wyoming. Among the store’s key energy-efficient and environmentally conscious features are water and lighting power savings; the diversion of construction waste from landfills; Verizon Wireless’ longtime “Hopeline” program that recycles unwanted wireless phones and equipment and reduces e-waste from entering landfills; recycled content in building materials; regionally manufactured materials; use of Energy Star equipment and appliances; improved indoor air quality due to reduced-VOC paints, as well as green cleaning products, carpeting and systems furniture; and a green education program conducted by Verizon Wireless.
—Nielsen Business Media