Hanesbrands Inc. Office LEEDs by Example

Hanesbrands Inc. likes a certain amount of uniformity. The company’s office in Bentonville Plaza is tangible proof.

“The way that office looks is the exact same way my office looks,” said Hanesbrands communications director Matthew Young, who works in Winston-Salem, N.C. “It’s the same way our office in Minneapolis looks, it’s the same way our office in Thailand looks.”

But Hanesbrands’ office space in Bentonville is different in at least one way. It was the company’s first LEED-certified office space.

That distinction didn’t come easily. Bentonville Plaza was a pre-existing structure when Hanesbrands moved in, and great pains were made to ensure an environmentally friendly setting.

“One of the things that struck me was the carefulness they had to take to make sure no dust got in the air ducts and into other offices during construction,” Young said.

Nowadays, the nine-story structure houses employees who follow  leads taken by Hanesbrands. The original recycling plan has been expanded to include paper, glass, plastic, cardboard, metals, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs. Account manager Levi Russ said employees have been quick to adopt a green attitude.

“There are a lot of sharp businesspeople that recognize where doing things differently makes sense for them,” Russ said.

In Hanesbrands’ case, that includes an office setup designed to take advantage of natural lighting. Low-flow sinks and toilets also were installed, as was an energy-efficient heating and cooling system.

Even the location of the office goes easy on the environment. Because Bentonville Plaza is so close to the offices of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. — Hanesbrands’ top customer in the area — most employees of both companies can walk back and forth to conduct business when needed. Hanesbrands and Bentonville Plaza also installed bicycle racks and enhanced public locker room facilities to encourage alternative forms of commuting.

Young said such practices are the result of a concerted effort at Hanesbrands. The company expects its headquarters to become LEED-certified within a year, and the same designation to be awarded to its flagship retail store sooner than that.

“A lot of people think you can save money or you can save the planet,” Young said. “We try to do both.”