CooperVision's Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico manufacturing facility.

SAN RAMON, Calif.—A second CooperVision contact lens manufacturing facility has earned prestigious LEED Silver certification for its environmentally conscious design and operation, the company announced recently. Opened in 1999, the 540,000-square-foot site in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, produces the company’s popular silicone hydrogel contact lenses including, MyDay and Biofinity brands. CooperVision’s clariti 1 day production site in Alajuela, Costa Rica, earned its LEED Silver certification in late 2018, as VMAIL reported. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system is a globally recognized symbol of excellence in green building. It certifies that a project complies with the requirements as created and maintained by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED projects earn points by adhering to prerequisites and credits across nine measurements, including building excellence, integrative design, human health, and material use.

CooperVision’s Juana Díaz manufacturing site excelled in LEED evaluation categories, including energy performance, indoor environmental quality, and location and transportation to earn the honor.

“The process of obtaining LEED Silver certification is complex, and it requires the dedication of not only our teams in Juana Díaz, but across the company,” Rolando Torres, executive vice president, global manufacturing operations, said in the announcement.

“At CooperVision, we are committed to continuously improving our sustainability practices for the benefit of our employees, our customers, our business, and the planet. Our focus on manufacturing facilities—reducing, reusing, conserving, and recycling—provides the opportunity to make the greatest impact. We are proud to be an industry leader in this area.”

This recognition reflects only a portion of CooperVision’s environmental initiatives focused on saving water, conserving energy; reducing, reusing and recycling resources; and empowering people within the company and the communities in which it operates. The company is continuously working to minimize environmental impact and operate more sustainably around the globe as part of broader efforts across CooperCompanies to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information, visit the coopervision.com/sustainability site.