WAL-MART SUPERCENTER SAVES CASH, ENVIRONMENT

DAN ALAIMO

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- In its first environmentally oriented supercenter, Wal-Mart Stores here is testing energy-efficient lighting and climate control systems that will soon be rolled out to other stores.

Energy-saving measures at the 204,700-square-foot supercenter are expected to save Wal-Mart more than $100,000 annually, according to company officials. A special center within the store is designed to educate children about environmental issues.

"This will be a laboratory for us. Hopefully, we will learn from this experiment and take it to future supercenters," said Leroy Schutts, regional vice president.

The store, which opened in Moore, Okla., late last month is similar in size to 20 others that opened at the same time around the country, he said. The company now has 230 supercenters and plans to open 110 more next year.

"This is not tree-hugging stuff. There are enormous benefits," Terry Minger, chairman of Wal-Mart's Environmental Advisory Board, told SN during the store's grand opening. "It's a wake-up call.

"It's where the smart investment is going to go because it is smart technology, it is energy saving, it goes right to the bottom line," he said.

Substantial energy savings will come from an efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, $58,000, while the dual-level lighting system will save $30,000. Electricity for refrigeration is estimated to cost $14,000 less than at other Wal-Mart supercenters of comparable size.

"It's a typical large supercenter. The main difference is in its environmental components, such as the lighting system, the HVAC system and the 'Eco Room' we will use for talking with school

children or anybody else interested in learning about environmental issues," Schutts said.

Energy-conservation measures implemented at the supercenter represent Wal-Mart's first attempt to tackle the unique cooling, heating and humidity issues involved with a 24-hour operation. The retailer worked with Oklahoma Gas & Electric and the Electric Power Research Institute to develop systems for the store.

The most visibly striking feature of the store is the waterfall that is part of the HVAC system. Rather than put it out of sight, the unit is framed by a small park area outdoors near the front of the store.

The system combines heat pumps with refrigeration units, a water loop heat exchange system and ceramic cooling towers. "You have water moving through these heat pumps and cooling towers anyway, so in this case, art [the waterfall and park design] follows function," Minger said.

The HVAC setup will consume 30% to 40% less energy than conventional systems and uses no chlorofluorocarbon gases, which damage the Earth's ozone layer.

The store's lighting system is also expected to use less energy than conventional systems, said Minger. A combination of skylights and photo-sensors that trigger a dimming mechanism is projected to trim energy costs about 40% annually.

The dual-lighting feature enables lights to dim up to 50% on the main sales floor on bright days while receiving areas' lighting output can be reduced 10%, he said.

"Even on cloudy days, the lights don't have to be turned up to the maximum because you get a lot of natural light," he said. An additional benefit of the natural lighting is that the colors of products look better.

Other environmental aspects of the store include the use of flooring made of recycled tires for the entryway, countertops made of recycled paper bonded with soy bean protein, and automated lavatories.

The supercenter has an "Eco-Room" where films and displays are presented to educate visitors about environmental issues. Local community groups are invited to hold meetings there as well.

Wal-Mart first introduced the Eco-Room concept and other environmentally conscious measures at a Lawrence, Kan., store in June 1993. While the Kansas location, a standard general merchandise store, focused on using recycled materials, the Oklahoma supercenter emphasizes energy conservation.

The company plans to open a third environmental store in City of Industry, Calif., shortly after the first of the year, said Randy Parker, Wal-Mart's director of special events. Like the Kansas unit, it will be a standard Wal-Mart store.

Wal-Mart does not have any plans to open more environmental supercenters, but it expects to incorporate the lighting and HVAC systems into future stores, said Minger, who is also president of the Center for Resource Management in Denver.

"You are going to see daylighting now in supercenters. You are going to see this HVAC system in supercenters," he said. "Wal-Mart will take the good ideas from the bottom-line point of view, as well as from the environmental point of view, and start incorporating them into the supercenters."

Concern for environmental issues carries over to some of the supercenter's tenants. For example, the McDonald's restaurant in the supercenter makes heavy use of recycled products and the video rental department carries a section of tapes on ecology.

"The third generation will be the City of Industry store where we are going to marry some ideas of solar energy and photovoltaics," said Minger. "We will have an even more sophisticated computer-designed natural daylighting system that was developed with Southern California Edison and the Environmental Protection Agency," he said.