— By Tyler Simmons — Restaurants need a new menu item: food waste strategy. Waste is a concept. We decide on a marker of when something usable becomes unusable, whether that is within a certain timeframe or due to a certain visual indicator — like a bruise on an apple or a snack past its ‘best before’ label. One minute food is edible, delicious, desirable — the next it’s unsellable, tainted, trash. Waste is an unfortunate output of system inefficiency, and the economical and environmental impact of when the …
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— By Patrick Lorimer — Getting the retail market EV-charging ready. Automakers are committed to bringing more affordable electric vehicles (EV) to market. GM alone expects to have 30 EV vehicles in their product line by 2025 and coupled with record high gas prices, EV sales are soaring. The federal government is helping states build out a national EV charging network with a goal of 500,000 chargers by 2030. Even the exponential numbers of EV charging stations won’t be nearly enough to meet market demand. Retailers have a unique …
— By Jason Narod — Why it pays for your retail and restaurant facilities to be grid-interactive. Rising costs, energy mandates, electrification trends and more prevalent power disruptions — as seen recently in California and Texas — are all trends putting the energy transition at the forefront of business stakeholder priorities. More energy demand due to mass electrification collides with needs to decarbonize existing buildings as much as possible. Commercial businesses will be disproportionately burdened by the costs and forced to adapt to these quickly changing trends …
— By Al Subbloie — How one Arkansas-based IHOP operator received new equipment, lowered his energy bills and improved operations without out-out-pocket costs. Restaurants use anywhere from five to seven times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings, and for quick-service restaurants energy consumption can be up to 10 times more. In an industry that traditionally operates on narrow profit margins, any reduction in energy costs will dramatically improve the bottom line. As many restaurant businesses are feeling the squeeze from rising inflation and increasing labor …
Newport Beach, Calif. — Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the largest provider of the cleanest fuel for the transportation market, has opened another renewable natural gas (RNG) fueling station that will provide an anticipated 1.4 million gallons of the clean fuel annually for Amazon and other truck fleets in the greater Chicago area. “The addition of the Romeoville station to our fueling network represents another step in the pathway for Amazon to realize significant carbon reduction for its transportation fleets,” says Chad Lindholm, senior vice president, Clean Energy. “Trucks that operate …
Grand Rapids, Mich. — Meijer, a retailer that operates one of the largest fleets in Michigan with 250 semitrucks and the first in North America to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 near-zero emissions standards in 2009, is once again leading the retail industry by deploying two of the first all-electric semitrucks outside of California. The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer is also the first nationwide to track the performance of the Freightliner eCascadia semitrucks in a cold weather environment as part of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. …
Jericho, N.Y. — Kimco Realty®, North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers, and a growing portfolio of mixed-use assets, has been awarded Nareit’s ‘Leader in the Light Award’ for the retail REIT sector, marking the third time the company has received this prestigious recognition for its sustainability initiatives. The Leader in the Light awards are given to REITs that have demonstrated outstanding environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices throughout the year, with winners selected by an interdisciplinary panel of judges. “It is an honor …
Atlanta — According to The Home Depot, 100 MW of solar energy purchased from National Grid Renewables at its solar and storage project in Denton County, Texas (known as Noble) will generate the approximate equivalent of nearly 8% of The Home Depot’s total electricity usage. The solar farm is National Grid Renewables’ largest solar energy project to date, and its first utility-scale energy storage project. The Home Depot has pledged to produce or procure 100% renewable electricity equivalent to the electricity needs for all Home Depot facilities by 2030, expanding …
New York City — Foot Locker, Inc., a New York-based specialty athletic retailer, has opened a new, state-of-the-art distribution center in Reno, Nev. The more than $40 million, 465,000-square-foot facility will enhance Foot Locker’s distribution capabilities by handling more than 20 million units and serving over 300 stores on the West Coast. The facility will also create greater cost efficiency and cut shipping times within the region by more than 50%. As part of Foot Locker’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy, the facility also integrates sustainable elements, including reclaimed …
Bloomfield, N.J. — The newly renovated Brookdale ShopRite in Bloomfield, N.J., has debuted an EVgo Inc. electric vehicle (EV) fast charging station in its parking lot. This EVgo charging station features charging from 100kW up to 350kW and can serve four vehicles simultaneously. The station was supported with funding through the PSE&G Electric Vehicle Charging Program, which is designed to support the deployment of EV chargers for a range of customers. This latest launch is part of a push to install and offer charging stations in communities where ShopRite stores …