Energy costs have always been one of the major expenses behind labor when it comes to store operations, particularly in locations running frozen and refrigerated food cases. Merchants understand that reducing energy consumption can provide stores with a competitive edge in the tight margin food retailing business and announcements are made almost daily to herald the opening of the latest green building.
One of the latest along that line comes from Wal-Mart, which opened a Supercenter in Las Vegas this week that uses a new cooling technology that promises to reduce energy consumption in the store up to 45 percent.
The HE.5 prototype, which uses a water evaporation system to cool the store, is built specifically for the western climate. The new system reduces the temperature of water by pumping it through roof-mounted cooling towers. The cold water then runs underneath the floor to provide ambient cooling to the shopping area.
The Las Vegas store uses other energy saving technologies employed in Wal-Mart's HE.1, HE.2 prototypes including recycling heat from refrigerators and using sensors in freezer cases that turn off LED lights when there are no shoppers in the area.
Terry Townsend, past president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, was impressed with Wal-Mart's new prototype that exceeds the 25 percent energy savings of its other prototypes.
"This is not just a baby step. This is a big step," Mr. Townsend told The Associated Press.
Richard Bourne, associate director of the Western Cooling Efficiency Center at the University of California, Davis, said, "We believe this is the most efficient cooling system implemented in a major retail facility."
While there is an advantage to be gained from having lower facility operating costs than your competitor, Wal-Mart has maintained that it is not looking to guard any secrets regarding its green building systems.
Charles Zimmerman, Wal-Mart vice president of prototype and new format development, said, "We are committed to openly sharing our learnings with the retail industry and the world because being more energy efficient is something everyone can benefit from."
Discussion Questions: Where does energy cost reduction rank among retailer priorities today? How much of a competitive edge can a retailer gain by achieving the kind of energy savings projected for Wal-Mart's HE.5 prototype?