Oct 25, 2007 9:41 AM

Contessa Premium Foods offered a VIP sneak peek of its Green Cuisine Plant, the world’s first and largest environmentally responsible, LEED-certified frozen food manufacturing plant. Tours were led by Contessa’s president and chief executive officer John Z Blazevich and company representatives.

The presentation portion of the event, hosted by Sara Snow of Discovery Health Channel’s "Get Fresh with Sara Snow," included a proclamation by the City of Commerce CA, renaming the street where the plant is "Contessa Drive."

This is the first time the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification to a frozen-food manufacturing facility. The LEED rating system is the national standard for design, construction, and operation of green buildings. It recognizes five areas of environmental and human health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and selection of materials.

Located in Los Angeles CA, the new plant is a 4 million-cubic-foot facility, costing more than $35 million, that will produce up to 150 million pounds of product the first year alone. The facility, its processes, and the product manufactured there will be known as Green Cuisine.