Going Green at Retail -- Winter 2006

Go Green
Taking steps to increase the
energy efficiency of your store
by R.J. Anderson
Green is a familiar color for outdoor retailers. There are
the green-leaved trees that line many of your favorite hiking
or biking trails, and of course the greenbacks that keep
the lights on and product flowing in and out of your store.
In terms of ecological green, there are both products and
practice. And while many outdoor specialty retailers may sell
so-called “green” goods and promote reusing and recycling,
how many of you know the energy efficiency of your stores?
While environmentally conscious attitudes almost
certainly are not unfamiliar to you, there are more than
likely ways in which you can improve your energy efficiency.
Whether it’s building facilities with more sustainable
materials and incorporating more energy-efficient lighting,
heating and cooling systems or simply taking small,
proactive steps to improve your existing store’s energy and
waste output, the virtues of becoming more eco-friendly
almost always outweigh the initial costs of implementation.
And in many cases, the financial return for going green can
lead to much lower operational costs down the road.
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Working with What You Have
For most retailers, building a dream facility utilizing cuttingedge
sustainable technology is still more than a few taps on the
snooze button away, but IO has found it doesn’t necessarily take a
multimillion-dollar budget to make your shop more energy efficient.
For storeowners and managers looking to get the most out of — and
spend the least on — their existing structure, energy audits are a
good place to start.
Though there may not be a spot in your Rolodex for an energy
auditor yet, finding one may be easier than you think. In fact, locating
a qualified auditor may not even require looking outside the outdoor
industry.
For 15 years professional skier Alison Gannett has provided
energy audits for homeowners in her hometown of Crested Butte,
Colo. Gannett, who counts Patagonia, Fox River Mills, Osprey and
Clif Bar among her green sponsors, helped found and is currently
president of the Office For Resource Efficiency (ORE), a non-profit
organization which promotes and educates about energy efficiency
and alternative energy, such as wind, solar, biodiesel and hydro. ORE
is partially funded by Patagonia’s One Percent for the Planet program
in which 1 percent of the company’s annual net revenue is distributed
to 350 grassroots environmental organizations.
Gannett currently travels to retail shops across the nation giving
a presentation titled, Well-behaved Women Rarely Make History and,
whenever possible, offers her energy auditing services to retailers that
book her presentation. “It’s a two-sided program,” says Gannett. “I
give my presentation to the customers then do an energy audit of
the facility. Basically, I walk through the store with the owners or
managers to recommend energy-efficient improvements and simple
steps — low cost, no cost steps — they can take to save money.”
For store walk-throughs, Gannett says she tries to partner with a
local home energy rater in a retailer’s geographic area to complete the
audit. Usually that individual, like Gannett, is affiliated with E-Star,
a Colorado non-profit committed to energy efficiency, or another
similar program found in other states. The local contact can then
help the retailer with the follow-through items and provide them
with a local payback analysis of energy efficient improvements that
can be made in the store.
“When you get a full E-Star audit, it includes a list of everything
you can possibly do to improve your building, then an analysis of how
long it would take to pay each one of those improvements off,” says
Gannett, who says that audits for smaller stores cost as little as $350.
“We then estimate the improvement costs and how long it will take
to recoup them based on projected energy savings.”
Gannett is quick to emphasize that the audit findings are simply
recommendations and that retailers should not feel obligated to
make every improvement on the auditor’s list. In fact in most cases,
the changes that have the most impact are the ones that cost the
least. Retailers should focus on items that have a one- to three-year
payback, which are usually not the items they thought would save
them the most money.
Big Examples
In what could be the greatest sign of the applicability and
potential return of sustainable design, Wal-Mart has constructed
two of its most recent retail “supercenters” with an eye on
conserving natural resources. In McKinney, Texas, the recently
constructed 206,000-square-foot supercenter is flanked by a 120-
foot tall wind turbine that produces roughly 5 percent of the
store’s energy. There is also a rainwater pond that provides 95
percent of the water needed for irrigation. Other initiatives include
waterless urinals in customer bathrooms and recycling cooking oil
from the store’s deli to help heat the building.
While some may question the giant retailer’s overall
commitment to being a good neighbor, and whether these steps
offset the Texas store’s overall impact on the environment, there
is no denying that in the design of these stores Wal-Mart is taking
positive steps toward reducing energy costs, and, in these cases,
providing a positive example of forward thinking.
Closer to home, the outdoor industry has its own positive
examples of going green. In 2004, The United States Green
Building Council awarded Recreational Equipment Inc.’s (REI)
Portland store the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) gold rating for commercial interiors. The REI
Portland facility is the first retail store in the U.S. to achieve the
gold standard.
LEED is a voluntary green building rating system that evaluates
environmental performance from a whole building perspective
over a building’s life cycle. LEED credits are earned for satisfying
various green criteria and different levels of green building
certification are awarded based on the total credits earned, with
gold being the highest level attainable.
REI built the 37,500-square-foot Portland store using materials
manufactured locally and materials containing recycled content.
Product is displayed on in-store fixtures constructed of nonformaldehyde
composite wood. To conserve water, the store’s
restrooms feature low-flow fixtures, which reduce consumption
by 32 percent.
Lighting bills are trimmed by getting the most out of the
facility’s natural light. A large number of high windows and
skylights help illuminate most of the facility, and photocells are
used to shut down electric lighting when ambient light is
sufficient. The result is a 26 percent reduction in lighting power.
And throughout the project, 96 percent of construction waste
was diverted from landfills and recycled as the store was built,
according to REI.
The Portland store is REI’s third retail facility recognized for
eco-friendly design. In 2001 the REI Denver flagship store was
named a Top Ten Green Project by The American Institute of
Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment. Two
years before that, REI’s Seattle flagship store received similar
recognition.
“Earning a gold distinction is tough,” says Rick Fedrizzi,
USGBC president and CEO. “REI’s rating is a testament to this
company’s commitment to environmental responsibility and is a
model for other retailers.”
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A common mistake retailers make, says Gannett, is that they often
focus too much of their time and resources on making more expensive
changes — like replacing windows, solar electric systems and heating
systems with pricier alternatives. “And those,” she says, “usually have
the worst payback.”
“For instance, air leakage is usually the number one problem in
most buildings,” says Gannett. “To solve those types of problems we
can do a blower door test where we figure out how much air is escaping
through different areas of the store. Then it’s as easy as applying a
couple cases of caulk to fill in the leaks and fix the problems. Believe
it or not, something as simple as that can sometimes save someone as
much as 25 percent on their energy bill.”
Despite her extensive history performing energy audits in Crested
Butte, Gannett has only recently begun offering her services to
retailers. “Since I do a lot of traveling to retail stores for my sponsors
giving the Well-Behaved Women presentation, I thought why not
spend an additional two hours walking through the store working
with store managers on improving their energy efficiency,” she says.
“And we don’t necessarily have to do the full E-Star audit. We can
also just spend a couple hours walking through the store with me
discussing potential renovations and their estimated paybacks or easy
ways to save money on utility bills.”
In addition to rating a store’s energy output, Gannett also analyzes
the health of a retail facility. “I do that because there’s a lot of things
that we build with and use in our buildings that are toxic to our
health,” says Gannett. “Things like carpeting and paint can emit
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be hazardous at high
levels.”
Self-help Lighting
Even without an audit, storeowners can take a few easy steps
to scale back their energy output. For instance, retailers looking to
make an immediate difference on both the cost and performance of
their sales floor often need to look no further than the fixtures above
their heads.
Michael Lane, senior lighting consult for Lighting Design Lab,
a firm specializing in lighting solutions for many forms of industry,
says the biggest illumination mistake most retailers make is an over
reliance on incandescent light sources. Though inexpensive to install
and replace, incandescent lights, which are often displayed on track
fixtures, burn hot and require a lot of electricity. Instead of lighting
everything with incandescent bulbs, Lane advises retailers to try a
layering approach — one that starts with a fluorescent base, an
inexpensive source that usually requires much less wattage and is
supplemented by strategically placed incandescents.
“I remember walking into a small retail shop that sold just socks
and they were lighting everything with incandescent track lighting,”
says Lane. “It was a winter day about 30 degrees outside, and inside it
was about 85 degrees because of all the incandescent lamps.
“Instead, they should have started with a base of fluorescent light,
then strategically lit four or five areas where they wanted to increase
Energetic
Appliances
Looking for ways to save money in your office? Start by
examining what are likely the thirstiest energy consumers in the
room: your computers. Bruce Nordman, an energy-use analyst at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, says that approximately
two-thirds of the nation’s office computers draw full power day and
night, even when their operators are home asleep.
There are a number of reasons many computers remain at
full power, but a big culprit, says Nordman, is that the computer
industry has not made power-saving modes easy to use. Energy
Star, a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
that sets energy efficiency standards for a variety of consumer and
commercial products, estimates that a typical desktop computer
at full power draws about 60 watts of power, with a conventional
monitor responsible for another 50 watts. By contrast, a typical
computer in power-saving mode, also referred to as sleep or stand
by, draws about 5 watts.
When shopping for appliances and computers that won’t suck
the life out of your office and break room circuits, Alison Gannett, a
professional skier and energy efficiency building consultant, says the
advice is simple: Look for the yellow and black Energy Star label.
A product’s manufacturer may affix the label on a product when it
meets Energy Star’s designated level of energy efficiency.
Resources
Looking to learn more about eco-friendly operations and
improve your store’s energy output? Here are a few good places
to start:
www.alisongannett.com — Contact Alison Gannett regarding
energy audit options for your store.
www.e-star.com — For energy saving tips.
www.eere.energy.gov/EE/buildings.html — A U.S. Department of
Energy site retailers can use to find out how to start saving energy
inside their store.
www.energystar.gov — For energy-saving tips.
www.greenbiz.com — For news, energy-saving tips and resources
dedicated to helping business owners have eco-friendly operations.
www.lightingdesignlab.com — Contact Michael Lane regarding
lighting solutions for your store.
www.usgbc.org — For information on the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) commercial certification program.
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traffic with incandescent lights,” he adds. “If retailers did that instead
of trying to light everything with incandescent, product would look
better and they would use less energy. They can use the fluorescent
lighting in the morning and evening when the store is closed and
they’re just running around restocking the floor, and then when they
open, turn on the incandescents.”
Though fluorescent bulbs and fixtures are relatively inexpensive
and readily available, many retailers admittedly are turned off by the
unflattering coloration often associated with this office building-style
light. However, this may not be an accurate perception.
“A common misconception is there is only one type of fluorescent
light,”
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lights they see in an office building. But they are available in a variety
of different colors, and now there’s a compact fluorescent bulb made
for every type of fixture, including dimmable ones. A few years ago
people would say, ‘I tried to get compact fluorescent bulbs but they
wouldn’t fit my fixtures,’ but now it’s a whole different story.”
For off-the-floor illumination, retailers may want to consider
installing occupancy sensors in low-use areas such as restrooms and
storage rooms, especially if employees and customers have difficulty
remembering to flip off the light switch when they leave. After all,
why spend money lighting an area when you’re not using it?
It used to be that the only lighting option for warehouses or large
storage areas was to illuminate using metal halide fixtures. These days,
larger facilities are discovering the T-5, a 4-foot
long, small-diameter fluorescent lamp. “You
can install a fixture that has five of those, so the
fixture ends up being anywhere from one to
two feet wide and four feet long,” says Lane.
“That fixture will use about 300 watts
and produce the same amount of light as a
400-watt metal halide,” adds Lane. “Metal
halides also have ballasts which use extra
energy, so you’re actually getting about 150
watts of energy savings by using a fluorescent
instead of a metal halide — that’s almost 25
percent in energy savings. And with five
separate lamps on the fluorescent fixture,
you can adjust the switches so they don’t all
have to be on at one time.”
Spread the Word
Once retailers implement green improvements,
the next step is to let your
customers know exactly what kind of changes
you have made and why. After all, what good
is having new, cutting-edge product if you
don’t advertise that you’re selling it?
“After you make improvements to your
store, advertise it,” says Gannett. “Tell
your customers what you’re doing. Print up
cool posters for the wall and show all the
measures that the store has been doing. Post
that information on your website.
“You’ll find that consumers really care
about those types of things, especially when
they’re deciding between two great stores
before making a purchase,” she continues.
“People are making more and more purchases
based on environmentally conscious
criteria, and more often than not, they will
appreciate what you’re doing. It’s a great way
to get a leg up on your competition.” IO