Whole Foods, purveyor of organic foods, has signed on to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge. The grocery chain has committed to reduce their energy usage by 20% across their retail stores by 2020. Currently, their most efficient facility is their new store in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn; this store has a CHP system that uses CO2 exhaust for refrigeration and cooling purposes. Whole Foods plans on bringing energy efficiency projects to all of their stores nationwide in order to meet their reduction target. Their plan not only helps with the grocer’s branding as an environmentally conscious corporation, but also helps their bottom line by reducing energy costs.
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Whole Foods joins federal program to cut energy use
Statesman.com, May 1, 2014Austin-based Whole Foods has joined a federal program to cut energy use in its retail locations.
The organic grocer is now a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge and committed a plan to cut 20 percent of its energy costs for 13 million square feet of retail space by the year 2020.
Today, Department of Energy officials are slated to tour Whole Foods’ new Brooklyn store, where it has launched several energy saving efforts, the retailer said.
“Whole Foods Market’s core values call us to advance environmental stewardship, so we jumped at the chance to work closely with the Department of Energy and participate in this challenge,” Kathy Loftus, Whole Foods Market’s global leader of sustainable facilities, said in a statement Thursday. “We strive to be leaders in all aspects of green building, so any time we can learn from best practices and share our own is a win for our company and the health of our planet.”