Feb. 21--RIDGEFIELD -- Step inside the cavernous warehouse of United Natural Foods and the notion of environmental sustainability doesn't exactly jump out.

You need to look a little harder.

It's in the break room's carpet, made entirely of recycled material. It's in the doors, made of wood grown and harvested with a light touch on the land. It's in the building materials, coated with a minimum of volatile organic compounds.

It's in these and a dozen other green features that earned the company gold-star recognition.

The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program -- commonly known as LEED -- recently certified the 260,000-square-foot distribution center with its Gold standard. It's believed to be the country's first refrigerated distribution center to earn the distinction, even though it's hard to see by outward appearances.

Employees said that's the point: Sustainable practices need not be flashy, and they don't need to break the bank.

At the same time, the company recognized that the green features would be appreciated by environmentally minded shoppers who ultimately buy the natural products at retail stores such as Whole Foods, Fred Meyer and New Seasons.

"We have that professional image," said Ryan Brakefield, a shift supervisor who grew up eating organic food. "We have these huge warehouses that you'd probably never notice. But it's made of 100 percent recycled material and sustainable products. That's the whole idea behind it."

The additional features added less than 1 percent to the cost of construction, said Tom Dziki, the company's vice president for sustainable development in Connecticut.

"We didn't do it for economic reasons," he said in a telephone interview. "We did it because it was the right thing to do."

For United Natural Foods, an amalgamation of more than 30 acquisitions and mergers, the Ridgefield project was the first distribution center it built from the ground up.

The center, which opened in the fall of 2007, rose from the site of a former potato farm that's now part of the Union Ridge development east of Interstate 5. The building is the size of 4 football fields, but it's surrounded by an open area designed to filter stormwater runoff through native vegetation.

Inside, employees are encouraged to promote environmental sustainability in their own lives.

For example, a bulletin board lists the winners of a "dirty sock contest," in which employees briefly covered their tail pipes to discover who owned the least-polluting car. Inside the warehouse, subtle touches demonstrate the company's environmental commitment.

"You can't go more than 20 feet without hitting a recycling bin," said Brent Bennett, another shift supervisor.

As forklifts scurry about plucking everything from Kettle chips to Ben and Jerry's ice cream for delivery around Washington, Oregon and Idaho, motion sensors cause lights to activate only when they're needed. It's all part of a general environmental commitment, said Jeffrey Graham, the company's human resources manager.

"It's really putting our money where our mouth is," he said.

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