Lowe's Earns SmartWay(SM) Environmental Excellence Award

Lowe's Earns SmartWay(SM) Environmental Excellence AwardCompany's Energy Efficient Transportation Practices Recognized

MOORESVILLE, N.C., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lowe's has earned its first Environmental Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay (SM) Transport Partnership. The company was recognized for its leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from its transportation and freight delivery system.

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To earn the award, Lowe's implemented initiatives that resulted in reduced carbon dioxide emissions and less overall highway congestion. These included increasing shipping by rail; instituting a more efficient process for inbound and outbound freight deliveries; increasing efficiency of truckload shipments allowing more products to be shipped on a fewer trailers, and continuing to use a higher percentage of SmartWay carriers.

"By 2010, we plan to transport 90 percent of our shipments by SmartWay Transport Partners," said Steve Palmer, Lowe's vice president of transportation. "By utilizing SmartWay carriers, we are able to encourage increased energy efficiency of our freight delivery system and help lessen the impact of vehicle emissions on the environment."

Lowe's was one of 34 companies and organizations, from among the Partnerships' more than 600 Partners, to receive this distinction. The awards were announced at the annual conference of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"EPA is pleased to recognize Partners with SmartWay Excellence Awards. The award winners are leading the way toward a cleaner, more efficient transportation future with strategies that reduce emissions and increase profits." said Margo T. Oge, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality.

SmartWay was introduced by the EPA and shipping and business leaders in 2004 as an innovative, market-based partnership to reduce fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollutants from the freight sector. Today, more than 600 businesses and organizations have joined the Partnership, each working to improve their environmental performance.

Together, based on their three-year commitments, these companies, including Lowe's are conserving more than 600 million gallons of diesel fuel per year, saving the trucking industry nearly $2 billion in annual fuel costs, and eliminating nearly 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.

By 2012, the SmartWay program, with full industry participation, estimates nationwide that it will achieve annual fuel savings of 3.3 to 6.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel, eliminating 33 - 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and up to 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions.

For more information about SmartWay visit www.epa.gov/smartway or call (734) 214-4767.

About Lowe's

With fiscal year 2006 sales of $46.9 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE(R) 50 company that serves approximately 13 million customers a week at more than 1,450 home improvement stores in 49 states. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

SOURCE Lowe's Companies, Inc.