World’s biggest private power user Wal-Mart set to enter green zone

Wal-Mart Stores will open its latest generation of energy-efficient test stores this week with a Las Vegas Supercenter...

Wal-Mart Stores will open its latest generation of energy-efficient test stores this week with a Las Vegas Supercenter that uses new cooling technology to cut overall energy use by up to 45 per cent.

The previous pilot stores in the Midwest cut energy use up to 25 per cent compared to a typical Supercenter built in 2005, the year Wal-Mart launched an environmental program to reduce energy use and packaging waste and to sell more sustainable products.

Wal-Mart said the new Las Vegas store adds to those savings with a new cooling system based on water evaporation for total energy savings of between 35 per cent and 45 per cent.

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Wal-Mart has said it is the biggest private user of electricity in the world and has huge potential to cut back on greenhouse gases from fossil fuels burned to create electricity. It aims to use technologies proven in the pilot stores to develop a prototype in 2009 for all new Supercenters that will be between 25 per cent and 30 per cent more energy efficient.

The latest store uses rooftop cooling towers to chill water that then runs in conduits under the floor of the store. The radiant cooling from the floor replaces traditional electricity-powered air conditioning.

The store also incorporates innovations that include recycling heat from refrigerators and combining low-power LED lights in freezer cases with sensors that turn off those lights when no customers are around.

West Asian makeover

•A look at some of the Arab-American features and flavors at Wal-Mart’s new store in Dearborn, Michigan

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•About 35 employees speak Arabic, noted in Arabic script on their badges.

•Sign hanging from ceiling at entrance welcomes shoppers in Arabic as well as Spanish and English, reflecting demographic makeup of neighbourhood.

•Largest produce section in chain features types of cucumbers, squash and other vegetables commonly used in West Asian dishes.

•Soon plans to sell a small line of Islamic greeting cards.