How convenient is it to go green? Ask Royal Farms, the Baltimore-based convenience store chain.

The comany's 5,000-square-foot store in Dover, PA is the first Royal Farms to earn LEED certification, the vanguard of a corporate pledge to certify all of their eligible stores under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. Company officials celebrated the certification earlier this week.

From the outside, the Dover store, pictured above, doesn't appear any different than a traditional building.  Yet for what Royal Farms' consultant described as a "nominal" cost, the Dover store's designed and built to achieve 21 percent energy savings and use 42 percent less water, among other advantages. Any extra costs to go green were primarily for obtaining the LEED rating and should be easily made up by the operational savings, says Neal Fiorelli, managing partner of Lorax Partnerships of Columbia, the chain's consultant. 

Royal Farms says it has 20 stores that have applied for LEED certification, including a store on Charles Street in Baltimore expected to open later this year. Meanwhile, visitors to the Dover, PA store can pick up a brochure and maybe even get a quick tour to learn about its green features.

(Photo provided by Lorax Partnerships)