Content about Energy policy

Bentonville, Ark. -- In its Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting on Monday, Walmart announced new commitments the retailer says will dramatically increase energy efficiency and renewables, and hasten its path toward being 100% supplied by renewable energy.

Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke outlined specific goals the company said it intends to achieve by Dec. 31, 2020:

Henderson, Nev. -- Efficiency upgrades at 621 7-Eleven stores in California, Washington, and Oregon, will result in an anticipated energy savings of approximately $1.2 million annually.

The upgrades were completed by Castrovilla, a subsidiary of Blue Earth, an energy efficiency and renewable energy services company. The project involved the installation of energy efficient electronically commutated motors, anti-sweat heater controls, evaporator fan controls, gaskets, door closers and strip curtains.

New York -- Energy cost savings, government/utility incentives and rebates, and enhanced brand or public image ranked as the top drivers of energy-efficiency decision-making in the United States and Canada, according to a global survey of building owners and operators and facility managers by Johnson Controls.

Energy cost savings, government incentives, and customer attraction and retention are driving energy efficiency in the retail sector, according to the results of the fifth annual global “Energy Efficiency Indicator” survey. The survey of nearly 4,000 building owners and operators representing 24 industry segments worldwide was led by Johnson Controls’ Institute for Building Efficiency, the International Facility Management Association and the Urban Land Institute.


Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. announced Thursday that it will up its participation in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program to 400 stores by the end of 2013. Energy Star certification is awarded to buildings that rank within the top 25% of similar commercial buildings nationwide by meeting strict energy performance levels set by the EPA.

J.C. Penney has a companywide goal to reduce facility energy use 20% by 2015.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples on Monday said it has been named a 2011 Energy Star Partner of the Year in Energy Management by the EPA. The chain has increased its renewable energy purchases and development to cover 53% of its total U.S. electricity consumption, more than double the company’s previous level.

Staples has also been named an Energy Star Leader by the EPA for reducing energy consumption by more than 11% across its facilities, based on EPA's standardized tools for tracking energy use.

Putting an energy management system in place is critical to a retailer’s energy-saving efforts. But a big mistake that some EMS users make is ignoring the system once it is up and running. This “Fire and Forget” approach will, over time, always render less energy savings than originally expected, and will waste a great deal of the value most systems offer, advised Comm-Works’ energy practice leader Rod McCrea, who spoke with Chain Store Age about energy efficiency.

San Juan Walmart’s 22 stores in Puerto Rico are switching to GE Evolve LED Area Lights in their parking lots. The completed project is expected to save up to 48% of the electricity traditionally required to light its parking lots, while cutting maintenance costs by an estimated 75%.

Burger King Corp. has gone green in Germany, with the opening of an energy-efficient restaurant in Waghausel. The eco-friendly design, developed in cooperation with Wirsol Solar AG (Baden-Wurttemberg), uses state-of-the-art technologies and renewable energy to power one-third of the restaurant's energy consumption, reducing energy costs by 45% and the emission of CO2 by more than 120 metric tons annually.