Wal-Mart's new store cools its energy use

Retail giant Wal-Mart has announced another milestone in its green push with the opening of its inaugural second generation High-Efficiency store.

The company said the Illinois store – which will open next week – combines technologies pioneered in its first generation High-Efficiency stores with new refrigeration systems to cut energy use by 25 per cent on 2005 levels.

Speaking at the US National Retail Federation Annual conference in New York earlier this week, executive vice president of corporate affairs and government relations at the company Lesli Dach said the new store represented a major step towards the company's goal of ensuring "every new store is 25-30 per cent more energy efficient than it was in 2005".

The new store features a wide range of energy saving innovations, including white roofs, low-flow bathroom faucets and LED lights.

It also boasts a new cooling system that combines a highly efficient secondary refrigeration loop with an advanced water-source heating, cooling and refrigeration system.

Charles Zimmerman, vice president of prototype and new format development at Wal-Mart, said the system would not only cut energy use but also limit the release of refrigerants that contribute to global warming by 90 per cent compared to conventional systems.