Green stores
As part of our Carbon Policy, we are carrying out a project to develop a model ‘Green Store’ which will provide an opportunity to ‘road-test’ emerging low-carbon technologies.
We opened our first model ‘Green Store’ in June 2010 in East Ham. This store was designed to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40%, compared to a standard store, and incorporates features such as rainwater harvesting, low energy lighting, free cooling, efficient chillers, sustainable timber, cycle racks and a wildlife habitat.
In our other stores, we’re rolling out ways of reducing our carbon footprint:
We operate a closed front door policy in all our stores to ensure that there is no wasted energy leaking through the front door.
We use infra-red sensors in staff areas in all our stores, so that lightning and air conditioning only function when rooms are being used.
We are installing low energy lighting in all our new stores, following a successful pilot in our new Tooting store in May 2009, which showed an energy saving of 20%.
80% of our stores have Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) in place, and these are installed in all our new stores. BEMS strictly control energy consumption in stores by monitoring lighting levels and temperatures to ensure there is no wasted energy consumption.
We used large arrays solar panels on the roof of our new store in Cambridge which provide the store with 1% of its energy.
What’s next?
We are opening a further green store in Naas, Republic of Ireland.
We’re analysing which of our energy saving schemes can be rolled out into our other stores.
We’re working with the Carbon Trust to measure our footprint annually, and to set strict targets for its reduction each year.