Rental car giant, Hertz Global Holdings Inc., marked Earth Day at its world headquarters, in Estero, Florida, with a ceremony to recognize the receipt of the headquarters Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Michael Carlson, USGBC Florida board member and board secretary, presented the plaque of recognition during the event. LEED sets the national standard for green building excellence, and the certification recognizes Hertz’s adherence to sustainable design and practices.

The 248,600-square-foot building, located in Estero, spans three floors and serves as a model of sustainable design. The building’s green innovations literally run from top to bottom, with more than 2,300 solar panels on the parking garage roof providing both power and water. The panels provide approximately 15 percent of the headquarters’ total energy consumption, and also serve to channel rain water into cisterns for reuse in the building.

The outside glass was selected to reduce the amount of heat coming into the building from the sun, in turn reducing the demand for air conditioning. An ice storage system generates ice at night, when power costs are much less expensive and more energy efficient. During the day, the system melts the stored ice to keep things cool without running the large compressors in the air conditioning system.

Food waste is composted in digester, which uses microorganisms to break down the waste, avoiding sending any food waste to the landfill. In addition, waste, recycling and compost is captured in centralized locations throughout the building. The campus also includes bicycle racks, 32 charging stations for electric vehicles—with preferred parking for both electrics and hybrids, and outdoor walking/jogging trails to encourage healthy exercise on site.

It was also announced during the ceremony that the Hertz headquarters’ cafeteria was certified by the Green Restaurant Association as a 4 Star Certified Green Restaurant®, the first of its kind in Florida and one of only three 4 Star Certified Green Restaurant® corporate cafeterias in the world. Green features of the cafeteria include: energy efficient lighting, refrigeration and exhaust; organic, sustainable and vegetarian or vegan menu options; low-flow water management devices; and recycling, composting and reusable dishes for waste management. Hertz has also worked diligently with its cafeteria vendor, Flik, to provide sustainable options, including providing local, organic and seasonal choices.
Building on its commitment to sustainability, Alex Marren, executive vice president, North American Rental Operations, issued a conservation challenge to employees to reduce the company’s North American energy use from now through Earth Day 2017 by way of personal actions, such as turning off lights and computers at night.
As part of Hertz’s commitment to sustainability:

• Nearly 80 percent of the company’s vehicles have a minimum fuel-efficiency rating of 28 highway miles per gallon.
• Environmental efficiency programs’ efforts resulted in recycling over 2 million gallons of used oil and auto waste in 2015 and approximately 80 percent of the company’s car washes use reclaimed water.
• The Hertz Living Journey corporate responsibility program also includes mixed recycling at Hertz rental locations, as well as tire recycling, which resulted in nearly 300,000 tires diverted from landfills in 2015.
• Hertz has installed solar panel systems at 16 rental locations and corporate offices that produce over 2.27 million kilowatt hours annually, which is enough energy to power about 208 U.S. homes for a year.