Wal-Mart Building Two Experimental Green Stores
Tim Campbell
Wal-Mart building two experimental green stores
Mega-giganto retailer Wal-Mart is conducting an experiment. No, not the
world-domination experiment, a different one: It's constructing two
"Supercenters" with green-building features designed to reduce energy
and water use. The first, in Texas, will have solar cells embedded in
skylights; runoff waste water will be captured and reused; heat from
refrigeration units will warm water for the bathroom sinks; waste oil
from the garage and food-service areas will be burned in a radiant
floor-heating system; energy-efficient LED lights will illuminate the
low-paid, uninsured, non-unionized Wal-Mart "associates" on the floor
below. After three years, the results of the experiment will be
assessed by independent agencies and shared publicly, and the most
successful elements will be used in other Supercenters and likely in
other big-box retail stores. "The No. 1 rule in retail is to get people
in and have them hang around for a while," said Rick Fedrizzi of the
U.S. Green Building Council. "In green spaces you have a sense of
well-being." The move is, suffice to say, unlikely to mollify
Wal-Mart's critics in the environmental and labor movements.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Roger Vincent, 20 Jul 2005
straight to the source: Denver Post, Bloomberg News, Lauren
Coleman-Lochner, 20 Jul 2005
see also, in Grist: Another Brick in the Wal-Mart, by Umbra Fisk
Dwain
tim...@sbcglobal.net says...
> The move is, suffice to say, unlikely to mollify
> Wal-Mart's critics in the environmental and labor movements.
That's for sure.
Not to mention everybody else.
J.R. Beleau
It was hot both out and inside the building. Outside it was 100 Deg.
according to the radio. Inside the store, it was only slightly less.,
no more than 10 - 12 deg's less. I asked the clerk why it was so hot.
They had just converted the store to a "green store" according to her.