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Destiny USA Celebrates LEED Gold Anniversary

poster with series of brand logos, puma at the top with a platinum certification
Scott Willis
/
WAER News

Destiny USA marked its second full year of LEED Gold certification Thursday by recognizing 44 store owners for also being energy efficient. The award for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” or LEED, is given to tenants that meet the sustainability requirements.  Puma took top honors for going LEED Platinum.
Destiny Director of Operations, Brandon Munger says green technology is built into just about everything a shopper might see, from the amount and type of lighting in the space (Munger says there’s a focus on natural light, compact fluorescent and LED bulbs) to the type of plumbing fixtures and the types of paint and floor finish used in the décor. 

 
Munger says Destiny is at the forefront of the sustainable and low-energy trend, and they’ve gotten good feedback from tenants so far: 
 
It’s a more minimalist approach that Destiny General Manager Rob Schoeneck says is setting a trend among retailers – even some with numerous locations across the country:  

DestinyLEED-Schoeneck-WEB.mp3
General Manager Rob Schoeneck promises Destiny USA's LEED certification is just the beginning, both for the development and for the chain stores making greener changes

Destiny recognized Best Buy with an award for recycling at Thursday's event, and also hinted at upcoming Earth Day events focused on composting and recycling.  Destiny was formally recognized as the largest LEED gold certified commercial building in the world in February of 2012.  

 

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.
Hannah vividly remembers pulling up in the driveway with her mom as a child and sitting in the car as it idled with the radio on, listening to Ira Glass finish his thought on This American Life. When he reached a transition, it was a wild race out of the car and into the house to flip on the story again and keep listening. Hannah’s love of radio reporting has stuck with her ever since.