Retailer talks of efficient building

Wal-Mart store is first of its kind

Wal-Mart’s sustainability expert, Don Moseley, talks a lot about the retailer’s first LEED-certified store in South Euclid, Ohio.

That supercenter opened last fall at the silver level in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a program that encourages energy efficiency and promotes sustainability in building construction.

But Moseley won’t discuss the cost associated with building the environmentally friendly store. He spoke Tuesday to some U.S. Green Building Council members gathered at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business.

“On this project, I feel like I spent a lot more than I saved,” he said.

“Most customers don’t disclose the total cost of their total construction in LEED,” said Linda K. Smith, executive director of the Arkansas chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, which developed LEED.

Public projects, such as those funded by governments, have to reveal their construction expenses, which are usually 2 percent to 5 percent higher than for non-LEED projects.

However, savings in energy costs make up for the extra building costs in a very short time, Smith said. Gold and then platinum are the highest levels of LEED certification. Levels are determined using a point system. The Ohio Wal-Mart store was certified at 50 points, earning it the silver certification.

Among the store’s attributes are: LED lighting in the parking lot, which Wal-Mart has said will reduce energy consumption by 50 percent; skylights that allow in natural light, which is expected to reduce lighting costs by an average of 25 percent; reusable heat from on-site equipment, which can supply up to 60 percent of in-store hot-water needs; and a white membrane roof that reflects light, reducing overall building cooling costs.

Wal-Mart had to adhere to LEED standards to put a store in the South Euclid location. The developer made a pact with the city to make all of the buildings in the development, a former golf course, meet LEED standards.

Moseley has been with Wal-Mart for 24 years and has earned the title of senior director of multilevel facilities and increasingly sustainable facilities. His video presentation in the Donald W. Reynolds Center auditorium featured a Kermit the Frog Muppet and applicable movie clips. He’s not the typical buttoned-up Wal-Mart executive. Moseley wears his hair down over his collar in the back and has a long gray beard. On Tuesday, he was wearing a mustard colored suit jacket.

Moseley did not talk about any future Wal-Mart buildings planned or being built to LEED specifications, though he did say the company’s hard-earned break into the Washington, D.C., market came with the caveat that new stores must be built to LEED standards. Two Wal-Mart stores opened there in December, but neither is listed on the U.S. Green Building Council’s website among LEED-certified buildings.

Business, Pages 27 on 04/16/2014

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