Banfield Pet Hospital Presented with Leading Environmental Practice Award

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Last night, Washington’s statewide business organization, the Association of Washington Business (AWB), selected Banfield Pet Hospital as the winner of its Leading Environmental Practice Award.

This award recognized Banfield’s new environmentally-friendly headquarters, located in Vancouver, Washington. The campus was designed to reflect Banfield’s values, including an open office environment, environmentally sustainable features, dog-friendly amenities and a design that echoes Banfield’s roots in the Pacific Northwest.

“Washington employers are leading the way on environmental protection by reducing their carbon footprint through innovation and investment, and Banfield Pet Hospital is another great example of this,” said Kris Johnson, president of AWB. “When it came time to build a new headquarters, Banfield demonstrated its commitment to the environment by building a state-of-the-art, ultra-green building that requires less than half of the electricity needed for a typical building of its size. It’s an impressive statement about the company’s desire to protect our natural resources for future generations.”

The three-building campus was designed to obtain the highest U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible. While official LEED-designation is still pending, the headquarters has achieved at least LEED-Gold designation.

“At Banfield, we are passionate about improving the wellness of our communities, and that extends to the environment we share with the pets and people we serve. I am so proud of our new campus, which brings to life many of the core values that guide our culture as a Mars company. In keeping with our principle of responsibility, we designed our new headquarters to be not only beautiful but also sustainable,” said Vincent Bradley, president and CEO of Banfield Pet Hospital.

Some of the sustainable features integrated into the new campus include:

• Geothermal heat exchange system which provides heating/cooling to the building via buried ground loop
• 20,000 gallon rainwater reclaim tank
• Roof mounted solar hot water array
• Low-demand LED lighting fixture layout
• Daylight dimming lighting fixtures at perimeter
• Data center heat recovery to central plant
• Variable speed pumping
• 60 percent reduction in irrigation water usage
• Utilization of low-VOC emitting building materials
• Daylight and exterior views for majority of occupants
• Bicycle racks and showering facilities provided for building occupants
• Twelve charging stations for electric hybrid cars
• Regionally sourced building materials including wood, steel and concrete