Walgreens To Build First Self-Powered Retail Store

MojoKid writes "We hear about green deployment practices all the time, but it's often surrounding facilities such as data centers rather than retail stores. However, Walgreens is determined to go as green as possible, and to that end, the company announced plans for the first net zero energy retail store. The store is slated to be built at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Keeney Street in Evanston, Illinois, where an existing Walgreens is currently being demolished. The technologies Walgreens is plotting to implement in this new super-green store will include solar panels and wind turbines to generate power; geothermal technology for heat; and efficient energy consumption with LED lighting, daylight harvesting, and 'ultra-high-efficiency' refrigeration."

Comments

But...

[longbot]

...is it powered by the tears of employees?

Re:But...

[PhrostyMcByte]

I think Walmart has that patented.

Re:But...

[FatdogHaiku]

Nope: http://news.walgreens.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5623

Re:But...

[lgw]

Walmart is quite cheap. Far more people work there than shop there. It's a net win - just like factory automation reducing the number of factory workers is a net win. Also, Walmart really pisses off hipsters, so it's twice as good.

Higher taxes for everyone else comes from voting for bigger government, not from Walmarts.

And, undercut the local retailers leaving no jobs either before they move onto a new community to suck dry.

Riiiight, just like the industrial revolution destroyed everyone's standard of living by putting all those local craftsmen out of work. Reducing the cost of products and services is called "technology" and it's a good thing, despite the workers it always displaces.

Re:But...

[germansausage]

I know everybody loves to bash Walmart, but is really justified? At the risk of greatly oversimplifying, you can help poor people by 1. getting them more money, or 2. making the things they need to buy cost less. Walmart is working very hard at doing thing 2. Do you think Walmart's margins are higher or lower than the retail industry average?

Re:But...

[Rockoon]

That is what the tribalists dont understand.

When things are cheaper because of greater efficiencies, everyone involved wins.

In truly free trade, everyone wins. Whenever I am better at A's than B's, and you are better at B's than A's, then trading is of benefit to both of us.

Thats regardless of any other factors. For instance, I can also be better at B's than you are at B's, yet trade still benefits both of us because no matter how much better I am then you at B's, I am still better at A's than B's.

The complaints about companies like walmart are cloud and mirrors around the idea that you may not be good enough at either A's or B's to make a reasonable living (= low wages.) But this really isn't an argument against walmart.. the problem is skills. Those attacking walmart and corporations like it won't improve anyones skills, but may end up costing people their low skill jobs.

Re:But...

[Ol Olsoc]

Walmart is quite cheap. Far more people work there than shop there.

Now that's quite the business plan. Less patrons than customers.

Also, Walmart really pisses off hipsters, so it's twice as good.

Higher taxes for everyone else comes from voting for bigger government, not from Walmarts.

You just got back from Palin's speech at CPAC didn't you?

Reducing the cost of products and services is called "technology" and it's a good thing, despite the workers it always displaces.

As long as it isn't a race to the bottom, on that we agree. This disruption is going to be pretty interesting. We're reaching the era where humans will be freed from any sort of manual labor.

I was listening to a TED talk today on what the future might hold. One presenter pointed out that the industrial revolution came along and allowed humans to extend their physical strength and dexterity in the production of devices. So much that it made a mockery of everything that came before. Now we are in an information age, where what we can know via our connections to the world. You and I can can access the same info that a dullard woth a smartphone can. Ther success or failure will depend on whether a person uses this new power to actually do something, or if they are contented to tweet and contact bff's on Facebook.

This will very likely make a severely striated two society system for some time. There will probably come a time when we try to figure out what people are going to do to earn their keep. I know that there aren't many professions now that cannot be performed by machinery. Beyond that, we'll settle down into a new world that will essentially make a mockery of the one we are in now.

Re:Geothermal heating?

[Latentius]

The ground can be used as a source or drain, depending on the season. In winter, it's warmer than the atmosphere, and in summer it's colder.

But yes, essentially just a heat pump.

Re:Geothermal heating?

[overshoot]

The preferred term is "geoexchange" precisely to avoid this confusion.

Lighting Choices Are Not Extraordinary

[TheStonepedo]

Daylight harvesting is a nasty misnomer - it really just means turning the artificial light down when natural light makes the space acceptably-bright. This is why Walmart stores built in the past two decades have skylights.
The 2012 IECC requires daylight harvesting or separate switching for daylight zones; complying with new codes is hardly a newsworthy achievement.

LED lighting for commercial spaces just recently reached a point where lumen output, specifically illuminance at the target work plane, can equal that of fluorescent for the same power input.
With a cost roughly double that of fluorescent fixtures, LED fixtures' lamp life allows the owner to spend less on maintenance labor, with a payback on the order of 2-10 years. A company as big as Walgreens would be foolish to use anything other than LED unless they expect to go broke before reaching their ROI.

I like what these guys are doing, but the PR spin is a bit much.

The secret of self powers store revealed!

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

In a shocking development, the NBC has learned that Walgreens is installing a "cushioning" carpet which is not just any simple cushiony carpet. It has tubes buried in it, and as the shoppers walk on it they squeeze these tubes and the air gets compressed and it turns a turbine that produces electricity. Mr Rube Goldberg, VP Energy Harvesting Division of Walgreens has conceded that the whole idea was his personal invention.

Re:Kilowatts?

[Kufat]

You've got it backward, I'm afraid. Watts are a measure of power, while watt-hours are a measure of energy (power times time.) A device that uses one kW of power while operating uses 24 kWh of energy per day of operation

Re:Kilowatts?

[jklovanc]

A watt is calculated by volts (a measurement of electrical potential) time amps (a measurement of resistance). Notice that there is no time value in that calculation.

To correct your calculation;
a 1 kilowatt device used constantly for 24 hours uses 24 kilowatt hours. Notice watts time hours equals watt hours. The kilo is there just to reduce the number of zeros needed. for example a 1 watt device used for one thousand hours uses 1000 watt hours or 1 kilowatt hour.