TESCO challenge on sustainable stores
TESCO challenge on sustainable stores
In an interview in Retail Week, Tesco’s project manager of environmental services, James Dorling, has said that the retailer’s concept of sustainable, low emission stores is constantly evolving. Each of the three outlets to date has a specific focus, the Diss store deals with renewable energy, the Swansea store with energy conservation and the Wick store, principally, with sustainability. "Diss was the starting point for energy efficiency. We were aiming to reduce our energy consumption in two stores by a third. At Wick, we took a more holistic view and started thinking about the materials we used to build the store, as well as its carbon footprint," he says. The result is that at Wick, where the first quarterly progress report is imminent, Tesco claims that its carbon footprint is half that of a comparably sized branch that uses conventional building methods and technologies. While high-profile flagship eco stores are good for the corporate image, Mr Dorling points out that all three stores are intended to provide lessons that can feed into the Tesco estate as a whole and that it is not a case of greenwash. "We've got to continue our research and development work, there's no doubt about that," says Dorling. "There will be more energy-efficient stores that are focal points for our (environmentally friendly) technology and processes. The next one is opening at Shrewsbury in spring. That will be our next jump as far as carbon efficiency is concerned." He is very clear about what needs to be done, "We need to break down the (eco) stores into more detail. We need to develop a blueprint of what an environmental store should look like. We need to look at things in fine detail and understand where the opportunities are."