This Press Release was originally published on May 13, 2009 and was aired on the KSL Metro-biz-report-5.22.09-Granite Office

Salt Lake City – Granite Office LLC is proud to announce that they have signed up to

participate in Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Program. Granite Office has

committed to offset at least 50% of their energy consumption with Blue Sky credits. Blue

Sky is a renewable energy program offered for businesses and residential consumers to

offset their energy consumption with wind power. Customers can purchase blocks of 100

kilowatt hours for $1.95 per month. The money generated from this program is

guaranteed to go towards the purchase of renewable energy from newly developed

facilities in the western United States according to Rocky Mountain Power’s website.

“This is one of the steps we are taking to reduce our impact on the environment and offer

added value to our customers,” says Lee Mercer, Manager of Granite Office.

Granite Office, a local office supply and furniture dealer, is also a certified e2 business in

Salt Lake City. e2 business certification can be attained through the Salt Lake City

Green program under the direction of the Division of Sustainability in the Mayor’s

office. To be certified a company must meet goals that are economically and

environmentally sustainable each year. For Granite Office their goals include

implementing an office recycling program, replacing all cleaners with environmentally

friendly cleaners and educating employees on Environmentally Preferred Purchasing

(EPP) practices. The benefits should be 2 sided: decreased operational costs and reduced

environmental impact.

So is it difficult to become an e2 business? “Getting certified isn’t scary at all. The

process is really a service that will help improve your operations and reduce your carbon

footprint,” says Warren Lloyd of Lloyd Architects, an e2 business for 4 years. As such,

their firm has enjoyed the additional benefit of free networking events hosted by e2

members. Recent events were hosted by Squatters Pub Brewery and Hotel Monaco. Good

food and good company, not a bad reward for going green.

e2 businesses can also help other companies reduce their carbon footprint. “Our research

of delivery vehicles revealed that Natural Gas vehicles could reduce emissions by a

significant amount and allow us to provide the services our customers need,” says Granite

Office Owner Garth Hood. This has worked out so well that all of their delivery vehicles

run entirely on Natural Gas and they are able to offer free same-day delivery. Research

shows Carbon Dioxide is reduced 22-25%; Carbon Monoxide 94-95%, Nitrogen Oxide

70-96% and NonMethaneHydroCarbons 92-96% with Natural Gas as compared to

gasoline engines. Considering that smog (ground level ozone) is comprised of Nitrogen

Oxide and Hydrocarbons these vehicles have a major impact in reducing pollution on the

Wasatch Front. “Our delivery vehicles are constantly moving and so are our competitor’s.

We can let our customers know that they are directly improving the environment by

choosing to do business with us,” concludes Garth.