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Bottler wins a green-building gold

EMMA BOUTHILLETTE

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Staff photo by David Leaming ANYONE THIRSTY: Poland Spring Plant Manager Cameron Lorraine, center, led a tour of the new Poland Spring plant in Kingfield on Monday. Gov. John Baldacci, at right, and town and state officials attended a ribbon cutting ceremony. Directly behind Baldacci is company manager Tom Brennan and Department of Economic and Communbity Development Commissioner John Richardson is at right.

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Staff Writer

KINGFIELD — Poland Spring's newest bottling facility in Kingfield, built in 2008, has received the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. It is the first manufacturing facility in Maine to receive this designation and the second Poland Spring facility, joining the Hollis warehouse expansion which received certification in 2009. The international certification system measures how well a building performs in various sustainability metrics, including energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction and stewardship of resources.

The environmentally conscious design of the Kingfield facility saves 70.4 million BTUs of energy each year and conserves approximately 140,000 gallons of water a year, as well as recycling or diverting 1,478 tons of construction waste from landfill disposal. In 2007 and 2008, Poland Spring partnered with Cianbro to build the plant. The building is constructed of salvaged and recycled materials in the structural timbers, bead board and floorboards, with a minimum of 20 other building materials having been extracted, harvested, recovered or manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.

''We are honored to receive the LEED certification and proud to be Maine's first manufacturing facility to earn the Gold standard,'' said Cameron Lorrain, Poland Spring's Kingfield Plant Manager. ''Employees of Poland Spring are proud to work for a company committed to being thoughtful and responsible in every aspect of our business. We have more to do and are excited to continue our journey toward more sustainable operations.''

''LEED certification is market driven,'' U.S. Green Building Council's Maine Chapter Board President Naomi Mermin said. ''More and more, businesses are learning that doing what's right for the environment can also be good for their bottom lines. Consumers expect companies to think about the environment; to recycle waste; to reduce packaging; and to utilize renewable forms of energy. We commend Poland Spring for being ahead of the curve.''

Poland Spring's parent company, Nestlé Waters North America, was the first beverage manufacturer to build plants in America with LEED certification and is the leading the country's food and beverage manufacturer in certified plants, with nine bottling facilities nationwide to have earned certification.

In addition to LEED certification, Poland Spring has committed to environmental leadership and sustainability. They are curbing carbon emissions by drastically reducing truck fleet idling time by 70 percent, as well as switching the fleet to non-food grade bio-diesel blend fuel. Regularly, between 91 and 98 percent of in-plant waste stream is recycled, and the development of the eco-shape half-liter water bottle uses 30 percent less plastic.