Aug 22, 2011 10:27 AM

Two Food Lion stores have earned the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 Gold-Level GreenChill Store Certification Award, one of the agency’s highest honors for refrigeration. The stores are at 4489 Highway 20 Southeast in Conyers GA and 4760 Hardscrabble Road in Columbia SC.

Food Lion became a founding partner with the EPA’s GreenChill program in 2007. Since then, the grocer joined other food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease impact on the ozone layer and climate change. It has previously won GreenChill’s Distinguished Partner Award and its Superior Environmental Achievement Award.

The company has pioneered technologies that save energy and reduce refrigerant leaks, from GreenChill to building two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified stores in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Food Lion has more than half of the nation’s Energy Star stores, with 1,015 certified stores. In addition, the company has partnered with utilities to evaluate various energy-saving opportunities such as solar power.

Based in Salisbury NC, Food Lion operates more than 1,200 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Harveys, or Reid’s. These stores have about 62,500 employees in 11 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Visit www.foodlion.com to learn more.

For more details on GreenChill, including its store certification program, visit www.epa.gov/greenchill.