Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Perhaps the most rapid change in terms of energy sustainability in buildings
is taking place in many of the new big box retailing developments in new shop-
ping centres or in large warehouses, especially in California, which are using the
essentially wasted space of their large roofs to add banks of solar panels to create
their energy supplies. Some large commercial companies are going beyond solar
energy and also adapting a wider range of sustainable practices in buildings to save
costs. One of the most explicit policy practices linked to this theme has been devel-
oped by Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, which adopted a three pronged cor-
porate environmental ethic in 2009 based on the themes of 'Planet, Health and Life'
to improve its impact on the world (WM
2013
). Its objectives are to have its stores
powered completely by renewable energy, with zero waste, which in some places it
is close to achieving, although the other goal of 'selling products that sustain people
and the environment' seems farfetched. The lights in many stores are being con-
verted to LED bulbs (light emitting diodes) which are brighter, do not need time to
warm up and use far less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs. More specifi-
cally the wider use of sustainable practices can be seen in Walmart's 400,000 sq. ft
food distribution centre for Western Canada in Balzac just outside Calgary that
opened in 2010 (WMC
2013
). Costing $ 115 million, the facility has solar panels
and wind turbines to generate power, LED lighting that is 70 % more efficient than
fluorescent lights to reduce energy costs and heat generation, more efficient dock-
ing doors to reduce refrigerated air loss, as well as 71 distribution vehicles in the
store using hydrogen-cell, not lead-acid batteries. The company estimates it will
save $ 4.8 million in energy costs over 5 years (WMC
2013
).
Most of these examples are still the product of individual initiatives by build-
ers or the companies that employ them. Yet their adoption is helped by municipal
policies, such as regulations that demand compliance to particular sustainability
standards—although these standards vary drastically from town to town. Some are
prepared to lend money to pay for these ventures with returns from subsequent en-
ergy savings. The previous section, dealing with reduction and re-cycling measures,
has already described some of the practices being used. Many still argue that it is
the fact of increased building costs that has minimized the adoption of sustainable
practices. Yet it is worth noting that the Sustainability Framework Reports produced
since 2006 by the International Finance Corporation (IFC
2012
), the investment arm
of the World Bank, has estimated that even by using existing technology the energy
and water bills of buildings could be reduced by 20 %, within only a 1 % increase in
costs. This shows that substantial changes can be made by small incremental costs.
Changing practices in new buildings does nothing to solve the problems of older
buildings that act as a huge drag upon the level of sustainability in urban areas.
Fortunately, there is increasing interest in showing how adaptive re-use of buildings
can make them more sustainable (Carroon
2010
; Yudelson
2010
). Recognition of
this possibility has led some national and state governments to adopt policies that
provide subsidies to householders that increase sustainability, as noted previously.
Yet given this evidence of cost savings by these sustainable practices, it is curious
how so many buildings in the subdivisions based on New Urbanism ideas do not
use many of these ideas.
