“We have no longer than ten years at most to deal with climate change.
If the world continues with a “business as usual” scenario, temperatures will rise by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius and we will be producing a different planet.”
James Hansen, NASA leading climate scientist, September 2006
Melting glaciers, extreme weather patterns, rising sea levels, scarcity of resources, spread of diseases, wars and conflicts are all startling forecasts that have become reality. More disturbing is the fact that nobody can stop this environmental degradation. But what we can definitely do is to mitigate the carbon imprints that are bringing about these global changes. As designers we have an added social responsibility to get to the root and bring about some radical changes.
In the retail scenario in India, there is just a beginning of an awareness of environmental issues. And although the urge to go green is there, people do not know how to go about it. Says Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, Director and Consultant at DFC, “I was talking to a Mall developer in Mumbai sometime back, and he wanted to know about going green. When asked whether his Mall had any solar water heaters, he was surprised. This is infact true with almost all Malls in India, which have not even cared to put a basic solar heating system to provide warm water for food courts, washing etc. Going Green is not a fad, or a style, but all about personal commitment towards environment. Retailers and Malls can plan to save as much as 30% power and also generate as much as 30% of their power needs by Green means. This all put together can lower energy charges up to 40% for a typical mall, which means straight reduction in Cam charges. Large mall developers can also plan to incorporate Carbon Credits, as additional savings. (5 lakh sqft of retailing can trade a minimum of 11000 metric tonnes of CO2 at a cost of USD 22 per metric tonnes, i.e. realizing Rs.1 crore, per annum as per current rate).
Retail consumes an approximate 15 watts per sqft of space, which translates into an average of Rs. 20 per sqft per month of power bills. Even if this can be reduced by 20% by basic means, one can save an astonishing amount of Rs.50 lakhs/annum on operating one lakh sqft of Retail. Any large retailer in the country today is operating multiple lakhs sqft of Retail spaces.
It is not just energy savings, but it’s more to do with energy management, efficient use of energy, daylight harvesting, HVAC integration, and energy generation by Green means. The combined effect of all these initiatives can produce immense results in terms of reducing operational cost for Retailers, and going Green and caring for environment.”
In the realm of retail worldwide, outdoor gear and clothing retailer REI opened it’s
latest LEED Silver Certified store in Boulder Colorado. The store is part prototype and part laboratory intending to test new retail concepts and the performance of green building features, including state-of-the-art technology and environmentally friendly materials.Natural daylight is channeled throughout the store through Solatubes while store lighting
automatically dims or turns off during the day. Solatubes will save the store more than 20 percent in its energy costs, the annual equivalent of powering up to three houses. Here is the first installation of BIPV(building-integrated photovoltaic) of its kind in a retail environment.Green materials, such as bamboo, recycled rubber and cork, have been incorporated throughout the store on the floor, perimeter walls, fixtures, displays, benches and tabletops. The store also makes use of wood sourced from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified forests ensuring the wood comes from a renewable source.
Energy efficiency is one of the most important aspects of a green retail building.
The Giant Eagle store in Brunswick requires 30% less energy than other locations.
The skylights that reduce energy consumption are equipped with diffusers that make them indistinguishable from electrical lights Wal-Mart met with lighting manufacturers and convinced them to come out with low mercury content fluorescent lamps, which they used in their project.Being energy efficient doesn’t just stop at the use of CFL and CDMT lamps. Finding alternative, renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, biogas, hydro is another way.
The use of standardized HVAC systems with high EER’s could cut one’s energy requirements by quite an amount. Using insulation materials wisely as double glazings, green roofing, landscaping on the immediate outsides, using natural construction materials would again reduce heat island effects.Using an intelligent Energy Management System, in this scenario, becomes impertinent.
The mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle becomes very important in using materials
efficiently. Reducing starts at the very onset,
where the debris of construction waste should be minimized as much as possible. The use of locally available materials goes a long way to indirectly cut down carbon emissions, which would be released otherwise in the transportation of the materials. Moreover natural construction materials are always, as the very nomenclature suggests, ecofriendly in nature. Using recycled materials does not mean one has to compromise on design. It just needs a lot of research for green materials. And it is here where we as designers, by demanding can create supplies of green materials. Says Mr. Majeed of Giant Eagle, Brunswick, “ We weren't just specifying materials, but actually researching them on our end." A mere research online can throw up such exciting materials as sunflower seed particle board, wheat board, straw board, eco resin materials which can substitute glass in application as manufactured by 3-form.
Recycling materials can also mean plain use of just that little bit more sensitivity. Wal-Mart has started using recycled paper printed on both sides for their cash receipts. Ikea has brought out the “Ikea Blue bag’’ to replace plastic throw aways. Marks and Spencers have started using only biodegradable materials for all their packaging. Even if one is using wood one can leave behind green footprints if the wood used is FSC certified and thereby renewable wood.
In the United States, it is already being surveyed and documented that the Sick Building Syndrome, whose symptoms range from respirational problems to lung infections, is afflicting people. In a green building it is important to maintain a healthy Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Use of low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) emitting substances when using paints, sealants, adhesives, carpet and housekeeping cleaning agents, MDF would go a long way to reduce pollution levels in the air.
Daylight harvesting, besides cutting down on energy usage, would also make the indoor
environment far healthier. Besides, views to the natural outdoors would also help to increase the productivity of occupants. Market survey has shown a healthy indoor air quality makes the consumer spend longer hours in retail spaces. Increased ventilation through AC’s or skylights can help purging out stale air and bring in the fresh air. Nowadays, CO2 sensing monitors are available in the market, which carry out the same function automatically.
The USGBC (United States Green Building Council) came into being to bring about awareness about environmental friendly buildings and interiors. LEED, which is an internationally accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, gives building owners and operators the assessment tools to measure their buildings’ performance.
Put in a nutshell we can say, “A building should create delight when you enter, serenity & health when occupied and regret when departed.” For us designers, there is a steep learning curve when creating the first prototype, but the seeds are in place for the trend to become entrenched in the overall design process. Says Majeed of Giant Eagle store, Brunswick, “When we started talking to some of our standard vendors about green materials, many showed a lot of interest and curiosity. It was as though they were appreciating something good, and it was becoming contagious.”
For the sake of both the environment and the quality of retail design, we hope he is right!
The growth of green buildings Internationally and in India has been phenomenal. Large retailers globally are feeling the heat of this issue and we should see such awareness amongst Indian retailers also.
(This article has been composed by Soma Majumdar, who leads the Green Initiative at DFC (Design For Change), organization based in Bangalore, which is a member of USGBC and is working on innovative ways for Green Retailing in India. She can be contacted at’ somajm@gmail.com or info@designfc.com)
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