The United States Green Building Council Awards Anixter LEED Silver Certification for New Edmonton Facility

GLENVIEW, Ill., Aug. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anixter is announcing the LEED® Silver certification for its new Edmonton distribution center in Canada. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification program provides a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. LEED certification provides points for the various measures taken during construction to ensure a building is energy efficient and sustainable. In achieving LEED Silver certification for its Edmonton, Canada, warehouse, Anixter is continuing its pursuit of green and LEED certified facilities across the world.

"Our investment in the energy-efficient systems, which helped us achieve the LEED Silver certification, was part of an overall expansion of our Edmonton facility," said Bill Standish, Anixter's Executive Vice President of Operations. "Both investments reflect the commitment Anixter has to the Western Canada market and the need to service our customer demands in an environmentally friendly manner. We feel the Edmonton facility will serve us well for many years."

The 195,000-square-foot Edmonton facility features light scheduling, motion detectors and radiant heat lamps among other technologies to significantly reduce the warehouse's energy consumption. The facility houses operations that provide full-service Supply Chain Solutions for diverse customers within the Canadian market.

The following are specific highlights that contributed to Anixter achieving LEED Silver certification for the facility:

• Energy-efficient lighting controls that include automatic scheduling, dimmers, motion detectors and variable intensity controls to complement natural ambient light, which reduces total electrical usage
• Radiant heat lamps that rapidly warm specific areas in the warehouse and lunchroom on demand
• A mandatory no-idle policy for delivery and receiving trucks to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (weather permitting)
• Power monitoring that allows meters to collect and analyze energy usage data
• ENERGY STAR rated appliances and office equipment
• High-efficiency forklift battery chargers that charge faster and use less energy
• Use of LED lighting to reduce energy
• An energy monitoring system that controls, schedules and monitors the health, airflow and air pressure of the HVAC system

The construction process for the facility used sustainable practices, including the use of locally sourced building materials and a commitment to the recycling of cardboard, wood and plastic.

Anixter's corporate sustainability program seeks to continuously improve business processes to control and reduce the impact associated with its targeted environmental aspects of energy, waste, materials and natural resources, and transportation. By targeting measurable results within each environmental aspect combined with using A Sustainable Path(SM) approach, which focuses on the economic, environmental and social impacts of the organization, Anixter balances corporate social responsibility and return on investment. Achieving LEED certification is part of Anixter's companywide initiative to pursue environmentally responsible facilities and operations.

About Anixter

Anixter International is a leading global distributor of communication and security products, electrical and electronic wire & cable, fasteners and other small parts. The company adds value to the distribution process by providing its customers access to 1) innovative inventory management programs; 2) more than 450,000 products and over $1 billion in inventory; 3) 231 warehouses with approximately 7 million square feet of space; and 4) locations in 269 cities in 51 countries. Founded in 1957 and headquartered near Chicago, Anixter trades on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AXE.

SOURCE Anixter International