A little over a year after Medline Industries, Inc., the largest
privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies in
the U.S., completed and opened its new environmentally conscious
service facility center in Dubuque, Iowa, the building officially
received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver
certification.

LEED is an internationally recognized, third party validation system
of certification for many buildings. It measures and evaluates design,
construction, operation and maintenance solutions. LEED is generally
viewed as a trusted benchmark for a building's impact on the
environment.

In order to receive this certification, Medline applied and the
building was then evaluated by LEED, who allocated points based on
preset green criteria -- focusing on energy efficiency and CO2
reduction. There are seven areas on which LEED evaluated the service
facility: sustainability of the site, water efficiency, energy and
atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality,
location and linkages, awareness and education, innovation in design
and regional priority. To achieve silver certification, the second
highest certification category, the service facility was awarded
points that placed them in the 60-79 point range out of a 100-base
point system.

"The building was constructed with the environment and LEED
certification in mind," said Robert Abrams, the Corporate Director who
oversaw the project. "Some of the green aspects of the
66,000-square-foot facility are daylight harvesting energy-efficient
lighting, solar-tracking skylights, technologically advanced building
insulation materials, tankless hot water heaters and a geothermal
heating system."

The installation of these and other green technologies resulted in an
electrical use reduction of 320,565 kWh, which avoids more than 230
metric tons of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to removing the CO2
emissions from 26,131 gallons of gasoline consumed or 535 barrels of
oil consumed. All of this gathered points for certification as well as
small things, such as close parking for a Prius, cubical walls made
with recycled fabric that traveled less than 500 miles from their
manufacturer and energy efficient trash management.

"I think it demonstrates Medline's commitment to the environment as a
company, and it was important for our customers," Abrams said. "We're
being asked more and more what we're doing to reduce our carbon
footprint."

About Medline Industries, Inc. Medline, the nation's largest privately
held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, manufactures
and distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended-care
facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies.
Headquartered in Mundelein, Ill., Medline has more than 900 dedicated
sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line and
cost management services.

Over the past five years, Medline has been the fastest-growing
distributor of medical and surgical supplies in the U.S., serving as
the primary distributor to over 450 major hospitals and healthcare
systems. As a leading distributor, Medline offers a comprehensive
array of consulting and management services encompassing the supply
chain and logistics, utilization and standardization, business tools
and enhanced reporting capabilities and on-staff clinicians.