Office Depot Reduces Energy Usage by 27.5%; Joins List of EPA Energy Star® Leaders

Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced it has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of ENERGY STAR Leaders for reducing its energy consumption by 27.5 percent across its building portfolio. ENERGY STAR Leaders is an elite group of organizations that have improved energy efficiency across all of the facilities in a portfolio. Office Depot’s significant reduction makes the Company the first general retailer (non-supermarket) to be recognized for realizing a greater than 20 percent reduction. Office Depot’s ENERGY STAR Leader story is available here.

"Office Depot is pleased to be named an EPA ENERGY STAR Leader,” said Edward Costa, Vice President of Construction for Office Depot. "This achievement, combined with our efforts in the area of environmentally sustainable building, demonstrates our commitment to environmental stewardship while also lowering energy costs.”

ENERGY STAR Leaders manage energy strategically across an entire portfolio of buildings using EPA's standardized measurement tool for tracking building energy use. Select organizations are recognized by EPA for improving the energy performance of their portfolio by ten percent or more. The highest Leaders recognition, which Office Depot is a part of, identifies those organizations with portfolios that perform in the top 25 percent of energy efficiency nationwide based upon the average ENERGY STAR energy performance score of the buildings in the portfolio.

Office Depot’s 27.5 percent energy reduction across 1,123 sites was accomplished as a result of investing in energy efficiency and green building initiatives. Such projects have included:

• Upgrading energy management systems;
• Retrofitting lighting from HID to T5;
• Completing a major de-lamping effort to remove one out of three lamps per store ballast;
• Converting to LED exit signs in stores; and
• Upgrading HVAC systems nationwide.

Office Depot has also installed motion detectors in receiving areas and bathrooms in its stores and distribution centers, reviewed and modified indoor and outdoor lighting schedules and thermostat set points, purchased ENERGY STAR qualified equipment for internal use, and installed solar panels and skylights in select stores in its chain.

Going forward, Office Depot has committed to tracking improvements in energy efficiency by using Portfolio Manager – EPA’s online energy measurement and tracking tool. Office Depot will also pursue ENERGY STAR certification for 185 eligible sites and use the ENERGY STAR ratings to increase efficiency in less efficient stores.

These efforts will contribute to the Company's goal of reducing its Absolute Carbon Footprint in North America by 25 percent (2005 baseline) to under 300,000 MtCO2e by the end of 2012. By achieving these and other environmental goals, Office Depot will strive to maintain its leadership position in the retail industry*.

Over the past five years, Office Depot has consistently built and operated environmentally sustainable stores and facilities, including a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certified global headquarters in Boca Raton, FL. Office Depot also opened its first LEED Gold Certified store in Austin, Texas during the summer of 2008. In early 2010, Office Depot announced plans to only open LEED for Commercial Interior certified stores going forward and has opened 15 locations since. Additionally in 2010, Office Depot announced that it will pursue LEED certification at its new warehouse facility in Newville, PA. For more information on Office Depot’s environmental strategy, please visit www.officedepot.com/environment.

*For 2010, Office Depot was ranked No. 1 in the retail industry and #18 overall in Newsweek Magazine’s annual ranking of the greenest large companies in America.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today, the ENERGY STAR label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products, new homes and commercial and industrial buildings. Products and buildings that have earned the ENERGY STAR designation prevent greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the government. In 2008, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved about $19 billion on their energy bills while reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 29 million vehicles. Learn more at www.energystar.gov/leaders.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,602 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.1 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 53 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Information on Office Depot’s Environmental Strategy efforts can be found at www.officedepot.com/environment. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.