Wal-Mart rolls out the green carpet to build a sustainable future
Name the organization that recently announced these environmental goals: "To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment." If you think it must be a dreamy-eyed environmental group, think again. This ultra-green pledge actually came from the country's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, which operates more than 4,100 stores in the United States and another 2,900 internationally.
According to Charles Zimmerman, a corporate vice president who heads up Wal-Mart's Sustainable Buildings Network, only the U.S. government uses more electricity worldwide than Wal-Mart. Going forward, the retail giant is determined to paint itself green - not just because it's good for the planet, but because it's good for business too.
"Our No. 2 operating expense is energy," says Zimmerman. (No. 1 is labor.) And every cent Wal-Mart can knock off its energy bill can go to the bottom line or cutting costs for consumers, or both.
"Everything we do, every product we select to stock in our stores, now is looked at through the lens of sustainability," says Zimmerman. By 2012, Wal-Mart's goal is to reduce energy consumption in existing stores by a jaw-dropping 20 percent. Another goal, targeted for 2009, is to develop a new prototype store that is 25-30 percent more efficient. Although that's an ambitious goal for most businesses, Zimmerman is unfazed. "We will meet those objectives," he says.
Zimmerman's confidence is inspired in part by the Sustainable Buildings Network, a group of some 200 experts (including Wal-Mart executives and vendors, government officials, specialists from nongovernmental organizations, and more). The network meets several times a year at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters to explore what the company needs to do to achieve its sustainability goals. Everything from installing new HVAC systems to harvesting daylight to replace lightbulbs is on the table.
While Wal-Mart is not known as a company where executives put their personalities on display, Zimmerman is plainly passionate about this work. "Our size at Wal-Mart makes the things we do so important," he says. For example, Wal-Mart is moving to LED [light-emitting diode] lighting that will change not only lighting in parking lots, but street lighting too. Typically associated with clocks and cell phones, LEDs are highly energy efficient, but it is Wal-Mart's prodding that has seen the technology nudged into new applications such as outdoor illumination.
Zimmerman admits the company's sustainability efforts are provoking some different practices at Wal-Mart. "For the first time ever, we are being proactive in sharing what we are doing with our competition," he says. Wal-Mart invites competitors to grand openings, shows them plans, and introduces them to its vendors. The first reaction is always shock, but Zimmerman sees the competition beginning to reciprocate. "Over time we hope we can break down the barriers," he says. - Robert McGarvey
http://magazine.continental.com/200806-idea-makers
