2.01.2008 - 05:48pm ET

(CSRwire) PERRYSBURG, Ohio, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI) today announced that its new world headquarters building in Perrysburg, Ohio, has been awarded silver LEED certification, recognizing it as a truly environmentally-friendly structure.

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The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System(R) established by the U.S. Green Buildings Council is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED certification is based on the number of points accumulated in the areas of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy/atmosphere, materials/resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation/design process.

"LEED construction promotes the use of environmentally-friendly practices and products for new buildings and major renovations," said Joe Zunk, project superintendent, specializing in LEED certification at Lathrop Company, the contractor that built the new headquarters. "As non-renewable resources become consumed and non-recyclable waste piles up, environmentally-responsible construction practices continue to be at the forefront of the construction industry and at the top of minds for sustainability-focused companies such as O-I."

Employees began moving into the new $20 million headquarters in August 2006. Construction began in August 2005, just three months after the Company announced that it would be moving its headquarters to its existing Levis Park campus in Perrysburg. O-I chose the Lathrop Company as well as architecture and engineering firm Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. to provide design-build services for the 100,000 square-foot building.

"The building was built in a uniquely sustainable nature. Everything from the materials used, and the recycling of scrap materials, to waterless urinals and a system to irrigate the grounds with water from a pond, lends to the environmentally-friendly construction and maintenance of the building," said Frank Butler, O-I's director of global real estate.

A variety of other features are utilized in accordance with LEED, such as featuring prairie grass plantings to reduce the need for irrigation and pesticides as well as to eliminate lawn mower emissions. In addition, bike racks, outlets for hybrid vehicles as well as a measurement and control system for lighting, heating, cooling and air quality are used to enhance the environmentally-friendly nature of O-I's headquarters. Further, the interior office space construction utilizes a refurbished modular partition system, which has been recycled from the previous headquarters building and allows almost all workplaces to have visibility to daylight.

The Company's mentality about sustainability and purity are reflected not only in the functionality of the building, but also in the aesthetic design of the building. The building's aesthetics express fundamental design elements of texture, color and silhouette that are also found in O-I's core offering -- glass.

Glass, the true "cradle-to-cradle" packaging product, is made with abundant natural materials and is endlessly recyclable. As one of the purest packaging materials available, glass has proven safe for consumers for more than 3,000 years.

About O-I

Millions of times a day, O-I glass containers deliver many of the world's best-known consumer products to people all around the world. With the leading position in Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America, O-I manufactures consumer-preferred, 100 percent recyclable glass containers that enable superior taste, purity, visual appeal and value benefits for our customers' products. Established in 1903, the company employs more than 25,000 people with 83 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries. In 2007, net sales were $7.6 billion. For more information, visit www.o-i.com.

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