The creator of frozen convenience meals and popularizer of frozen foods in the United States, John Blazevich frequently wrote about and integrated sustainability into his manufacturing processes. To actualize these beliefs, John Blazevich created his "Green Cuisine" plant, the world's first LEED-certified frozen food manufacturing plant. This was a huge accomplishment because frozen food manufacturing is a heavily intense energy user. So, to be the world's first "green" LEED certified frozen food manufacturing plant, reducing daily use and CO2 emissions by 65%, relative to 1990 Kyoto Protocol baseline standards is a monumental achievement. In less than one year, this operation became Carbon Neutral.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and refers to a certification denoting a building’s use of architectural principles to reduce waste, use environmentally friendly materials, and reduce its impact on the local wildlife. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) created LEED to promote users’ health while also enhancing sustainability and harmony with the surrounding environment. Different sets of LEED guidelines exist for homes, businesses, and health care facilities, as well as for different aspects of a building’s life cycle (like a brand-new building versus updating the interior of a preexisting one).
When architects create new buildings, after paying registration and precertification fees, they submit their plans to confirm that their plans meet the baseline LEED requirements for that type. They can then decide which credits they want to fulfill (choosing from nine categories, such as waste management, water, and location). LEED assigns points to buildings for each credit earned and groups eligible buildings into four tiers, with bronze buildings earning 40 to 49 points, silver 50 to 59, gold 60 to 79, and platinum 80 to 110. The USGBC then awards a plaque displaying its certification tier for installation on the building.
