FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT 2014 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

®

2 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS

At The Home Depot®, we believe that sustainability should be woven into the DNA of our company.

6

8

9

10

12

13

14

16

18

22

23

25

OverviewSustainability Integration Approach

2015 Impact Goals

Conservation in Action

What Sustainability Looks Like atThe Home DepotResponsible Sourcing of Wood

Carbon Emissions

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

Building a Better Store

The Home Depot Foundation

Vendor Oversight & Ethical Sourcing

Providing Consumers with ChoicesEco Options®

ENERGY STAR®

WaterSenseSM

For over 20 years, The Home Depot has

led the industry and our consumers to a more

sustainable future.From being the first retailer to establish environmental principles in 1991 to winning the EPA WaterSense 2013 Retailer of the Year Award, the EPA ENERGY STAR® 2014 Partner of the Year Award and scoring 99 in the Carbon Disclosure Project for 2013, we continue to lead by example, demonstrating to the world that sustainability business practices are not only possible, they are good for business.

A commitment made 20 years ago continues to inspire us as we consider the ethical and environmental impacts of business. We know that our strategy must include two parallel paths: acting responsibly in our business operations and providing sustainable choices for our consumers and their families to enjoy.

6 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS SUSTAINABILITY INTEGRATION APPROACH | 7

At The Home Depot, we have implemented

a system to ensure the benefits of our

sustainability efforts will last a long time.

The Home Depot Sustainability Integration System provides an organized, transparent structure that allows the oversight of five key issues:

Operations

Merchandising

Supply Chain

Information Technology

Climate Change Risk

Carbon Footprint

Store Design, Maintenance, Waste Reduction, Energy Use, Site Planning, Recycling, Water Use and Packaging

Eco Options® Products, Natural Resources Protection, Supplier Sustainability, Packaging, Energy Saving, Water Saving and Transparency

Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Distribution Center Energy Use, Packaging, Distribution Model and Cube Utilization in Trucks

Energy Use, Server Demands, Using Less Paper in Corporate and Store Operations and Recycle Programs

Store Construction, Store Maintenance, Product Assortment, Drought Tolerance, Severe Weather Preparation and Recovery

Supply Chain GHG Emissions, Operational Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Emissions by Country

These key issues are integrated into our business plan through our six departments:

Energy/Water Use

Carbon Emissions

SustainableProduct

Assortment

SustainableOperations

Supply ChainImpact

The Sustainability Integration System provides a forum for business unit reporting to measure and highlight a wide range of sustainability goals, achievements and improvements. It connects our individuals, teams, decisions and actions to our overall goal of sustainability.

CONSERVATION IN ACTION | 98 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS

We installed 122 water reclamation tanks from 2010–2013. Each tank saves an average of 500,000 gallons per year and is used to irrigate our Garden Centers in the store.

In 2010, The Home Depot pledged to remove 20% of its greenhouse gas emissions from its domestic supply chain by the year 2015. 2009 Baseline

8.0 billion

The Home Depot was the first national retailer to provide CFL light bulbs and rechargeable battery recycling for consumers. Through this program, over 2.2 million pounds of CFL bulbs and 3.9 million pounds of rechargeable batteries were recycled.

This includes re-lamping our stores with more efficient lighting, replacing old HVAC systems with new Energy Star®-rated units, using LEDs for exit lighting and much more.2004 Baseline

In 2013, The Home Depot recycled approximately 186,000 tons of used cardboard.

Building a Better Home Depot

The Home Depot is a member of the Better Building Alliance in partnership with the Department of Energy. Our goal is to improve efficiencies in buildings, force improvements in technology and share best practices with retailers from around the country. We are on the Steering Committee, HVAC, Electrical Lighting and Whole Building Subcommittees.

Our Lodi, California, test store was designed to be 50% more energy efficient than the 2007 ASHRAE code.

The Lodi store, which opened in April 2012, is a three-year ongoing project that involved in-depth monitoring of existing stores for nine months before building the new energy-efficient store. Energy-reduction features that are successful in the Lodi store will be used in future stores.

By 2015, The Home Depot will reduce its energy use in stores by 20%.

20%greenhouse gas emissions

kWh total savings

500,000

That is a 200 million mile reduction in distribution miles – the equivalent of 8,000 trips around the earth.

The 8.0 billion kWh total savings is enough energy to power over 800,000 U.S. homes for one year.

estimated gallons per year

10 | RESPONSIBLE SOURCING OF WOOD

North America94.72%

South America2.3%

Europe0.68%

Africa0.29%

Asia1.56%

Oceania0.45%

The North American forest coverage has increased over 18 million acres since 1990. The Home Depot sells more Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood than any other retailer in North America.

Sustainable forest standards have been practiced in European forests for hundreds of years.

In 2001, The World Wildlife Fund identified a list of the 10 most vulnerable forest ecoregions in the world. Many of these are in Africa. Since that time, The Home Depot has ceased its purchase of uncertified wood products sourced from these ecoregions.

Less than 0.15% of our total wood comes from areas around the Brazilian Amazon Basin. In regions where rainforest harvesting exists, we have partnered with environmental groups, governments and industry to educate and motivate the local communities to promote sustainable timber harvesting. 90% of our wood purchases in South America come from plantations in Chile and Brazil.

Since the 1990s, China has planted more than 9 million acres of new trees per year. The Home Depot is working with external stakeholders to learn about the many issues facing Indonesian forests. We believe that our participation in this region and our commitment to sustainable forestry will have a positive impact on forestry practices here.

Approximately 22.5% of Oceania is covered in forest, and 90% of our purchases come from plantations in New Zealand.

The Home Depot purchases wood responsibly throughout the world. This map shows the percentage that is purchased by continent.

12 | CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT | 13

World Resources Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol

Supply Chain Carbon Emissions at The Home Depot

Since 2009, we have had an absolute carbon emission reduction of:

We use World Resource Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

The Carbon Disclosure Project rated The Home Depot as a Global Leader.

95 Pts. 99 Pts. 82 Pts. 37 Pts. 20122013 2011 2010

This reduction is significant. Not only did The Home Depot achieve a four-year reduction of 1,813,080 metric tons CO

2e,

we achieved this reduction despite including 13 new stores and nine new distribution centers in 2010–2011. In 2010, we also added our China operations to the calculations.

1,936,545 metric tons

DOWN DOWN

DISTRIBUTION TO STORE SHIPMENTS

CARBON EMISSIONS DOWN

DOWN

-0.4%

-9.3% -1.6%

2013 Truck Emission Reduction

DISTRIBUTION CENTER

THE HOME DEPOT

Distribution Center to Store (One-Way) Shipments Carbon Emissions

Vendor to Distribution Center Shipments Carbon Emissions

Direct to Store Shipments (Collect) Carbon Emissions

FACTORY/VENDORS

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent, not-for-profit organization working with businesses and cities to reduce greenhouse gases and drive sustainable water use. The Home Depot’s 2013 score of 99 points from the CDP places us at the top of the Global Leadership Index, which indicates the CDP acknowledgement of The Home Depot’s understanding of carbon emissions and climate change risks and opportunities into our core business.

At The Home Depot, we calculate our carbon footprint by combining the impact of our direct emissions with that of our purchased electricity and the transport part of our supply chain.

A carbon footprint measures the impact of our actions on the environment. It measures the amount of greenhouse gases that we produce through activities such as transporting products, electricity use that burns fossil fuel and owned vehicle use.

-2.2%Total Carbon Reduction

51,930Metric Tons Reduced

(in metric tons CO2e)

7,004,7236,352,812

5,575,028 5,191,643 5,068,178

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Past years’ carbon footprint calculations

Exterior building signs are two-strand LED rather than fluorescent

All new stores have airlock vestibules and exits to reduce air infiltration

CO2 sensors maintain good air quality

Energy management systems for lighting controls and high-efficiency HVAC units

Reduced the number of parking spaces required with our stores, which reduces impervious surface space and adds more green spaceLocal materials for construction of new

buildings, i.e., concrete, stone, etc.

White thermoplastic polyolefin roofs have high reflectivity and will reduce heat island effect

Switched to high-efficiency T5 fluorescent lighting, lowering wattage

from 49 watts to 44 watts

Concrete uses a densified system versus diamond grinding, eliminating 5,000 to

7,000 gallons of slurry water that would have to be disposed of properly

Recycled metal materials for bar joists and roof deck

Eight zoned planting areas, incorporating local hardy species where landscaping

is required to minimize maintenance and water use

New irrigation systems reduce water usage by 35% where irrigation is necessary

Lighting in parking lot is shut off one to three hours after closing and security lights are kept to a minimum; 330w lamps implemented in new stores, versus 400w lamps, for parking lot lights

Dual-flush, low-flow toilets and urinals; low-flow faucets that reduce water

usage by 40%

Each tank saves an estimated average of 500,000 gallons per year and

is used to irrigate our Garden Centers in select stores

14 | BUILDING A BETTER STORE THROUGH NEW ENHANCEMENTS

16 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS THE HOME DEPOT FOUNDATION | 17

NEED COPY

Associates volunteer through Team Depot to lend their time and talent to repair and remodel veterans’ homes and support facilities. Since the launch of the veterans focus in 2011, The Home Depot Foundation has donated funds to more than 1,800 nonprofits supporting the building or repair of 9,000 housing units. In addition, Team Depot volunteers have completed 1,300 volunteer projects around the U.S. benefiting veterans and their families.

Since the program began in 2008, $200 million+ of product has been donated to 1,600 local nonprofit organizations, reaching more than 600,000 low-income families. A 2012 study conducted by the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University concluded that the program has saved more than $56 million in embodied energy costs, including:

• landfill space and volume equivalent to approximately 6,000 garbage trucks

• enough manufacturing energy savings to power 150 homes for one year

• consumption energy savings of more than 3,300,000 kWh, which translates to a reduction in CO

2 emissions equivalent

to planting 517 acres of pine forest.

$80 million

At The Home Depot Foundation, our goal is to serve,

beautify and sustain our communities for

generations to come.

To divert excess merchandise from our stores and away from landfills, The Home Depot and THDF, in collaboration with Good 360®, created a unique product donation program, called Framing Hope.

committed to veterans’ housing initiatives

$200 million+in product donations

The Foundation’s mission is to ensure every veteran has a safe place to call home.

The Home Depot Foundation (THDF) has invested $340 million in local U.S. communities since it was established in 2002. The Foundation manages The Home Depot’s grants initiatives, disaster relief activities, the Framing Hope product donation program and Team Depot, our associate-led volunteer force.

18 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS VENDOR OVERSIGHT & ETHICAL SOURCING | 19

GIVINGBACK

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE

CREATING SHAREHOLDER VALUE

TAKING CARE OF OUR PEOPLE

RESPECTFOR ALLPEOPLE

DOING THERIGHT THING

BUILDING STRONG

RELATIONSHIPS

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

The Social Environmental Responsibility (SER) Standards mandate that suppliers and factories abide by all applicable international and local laws, rules and regulations in the manufacture and distribution of merchandise or services provided to us.

As with all of our efforts, we believe in accountability and have established a system of supplier audits. In 2013, we conducted over 972 announced and unannounced social compliance audits of factories throughout The Home Depot supply chain. Suppliers who failed to comply were required to develop and implement corrective and preventive action plans as a prerequisite to conducting business with us. As a result, we conducted over 519 follow-up audits in 2013 to verify these improvements were implemented.

Failure to improve will result in termination. In turn, The Home Depot has established programs to support factories that take positive action towards creating a lasting social and environmental compliance program. More than 146 support visits to our factories were conducted in 2013.

Positive change is not simply a goal for us.

It’s what brings us together and helps

us build responsible relationships around

the world.

The Home Depot’s core values influence the beliefs and actions of all our dedicated associates and drive us to conduct our business in a responsible manner on a daily basis.

Because we have relationships with suppliers around the world, we have seized the opportunity to leverage our values towards a collective commitment to human rights and safety in the workplace.

SUSTAINABILITY INTEGRATION APPROACH | 2120 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS

From the ground up, we are changing the way we live, work and think about the future.

ENERGY STAR® | 2322 | THE HOME DEPOT ECO OPTIONS®

The Eco Options brand helps consumers identify products that have comparably lower environmental impact in five key categories: Water Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Clean Air, Healthy Home and Sustainable Forestry.

Eco Options is an identification system designed to evaluate the environmental impact of a product compared to standard products.

In 2007, The Home Depot launched the Eco Options program in conjunction with Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a leading independent, third-party certification body.

2013 ENERGY STAR purchases saved our customers in annual utility costs:

$769,000,000This reduced energy consumption equated to a decrease in GHG emissions of:

4,700,000 tons

Elevated demand for ENERGY STAR products to almost three times that of our non-ENERGY STAR products.

Using the EPA ENERGY STAR resources as a guide, The Home Depot highlighted benefits to the environment and savings for consumers. Working with suppliers, we increased the number of ENERGY STAR products available in stores.

125,000,000ENERGY STAR-qualified products sold

In-store and online ENERGY STAR product assortment grew to over 12,000 products!

Enhanced LED bulb in-store signs and displays to educate the consumer on the spend/save ratio, driving over a 100% increase in sales in 2013.

The Home Depot is a nine-time ENERGY STAR award winner, and in 2014, The Home Depot was the EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year.

CREE® LED Light Bulb

The new, exclusive to The Home Depot CREE LED bulb will save consumers billions of kilowatts and millions of dollars in utility savings.

Our merchants spent years working with CREE to perfect this new LED technology that offers the light and convenience of incandescent bulbs.

No-VOC and Low–VOC PaintsIn 2012, The Home Depot converted all of our interior paints to low or no volatile organic compound (VOC) formulas. Through this conversion, we strengthened our leadership position, eliminating the need for high-priced niche eco paints. The new formula eliminated 27 million pounds of VOC released into the atmosphere in 2012.

84% LEDenergysavings

Increased demand & awareness for ENERGY STAR The impact of our efforts

24 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS WATERSENSESM | 25

Every day, our customers are

faced with more and more choices.

It’s our job to make those choices safer,

smarter and greener.

The Home Depot has aligned our sales strategy with the EPA WaterSense messaging, creating best-in-class product offerings and consumer education.

$350 million+saved on water utility bills from purchases of WaterSense products in 2013

Over 7,000 WaterSense products offered both online and in stores

We have now converted our full assortment of bath faucets and 80% of our assortment of in-store toilets to WaterSense labeled products.

$36 millionin consumer price reduction incentives for WaterSense products in 2013

503 billionWaterSense logo impressions through in-store and online marketing in 2013

Certified byIAPMO R&T

WaterSense, a partnership program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products.

42 billion+gallons of water saved by our customers in 2013 through the sale of WaterSense products

SUSTAINABILITY INTEGRATION APPROACH | 2726 | 2015 IMPACT GOALS

Do we think about our legacy as much as we think about our business?Yes. Every day.

This report was printed using 100% post-consumer recycled and FSC-certified materials.

As the #1 home improvement retailer, we understand that the best build and remodel projects are the ones built sustainably. Our job is to find sustainable products so together we can build a sustainable future.

®

DO NOT PRINT!Replace with

REAL FSC Logo