California Apparel News

By mid-fall there will be new guidelines to make retail buildings ecologically friendly.

The Washington D.C.–based nonprofit U.S. Green Business Council is scheduled to release its “LEED for Retail” guidelines in August, said Nick Shaffer, manager for commercial real estate for USGBC. He was in San Diego recently for the Retail Facilities Summit, an annual meeting on industry issues for retail-construction executives.

LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.”

Retail buildings face unique environmental uses, Shaffer said. Like other places, retail locations must deal with how people working in the building use electricity and water. But they must also consider how waves of customers will use the retail building, too.

Retailers such as Kohl’s, Coldwater Creek, REI and Costco have consulted with USGBC to make their buildings more environmentally friendly.

Since 2000, the nonprofit has been certifying buildings with its LEED guidelines. It awards rankings such as silver, gold and platinum based on a point system for building construction and materials used in the building. Shaffer said 2,500 buildings in the United States have been certified as eco-friendly by LEED and other enviornmental-rating systems. Of those, 385 are retail buildings.

Since 2006, USGBC has been consulting with retailers, developers and environmental groups on forming guidelines for environmentally friendly buildings and interiors. “LEED for Retail” has been submitted for public comment since 2007. The guidelines span five different subject areas. They include:

* Sustainable sites. The guideline asks if the area around a store lends itself to what USGBC believes are eco-friendly practices. For example, is it located close to a mass-transit stop?* Water efficiency. The guideline checks if a retail site uses too much water. USGBC recommends using low-flush toilets to cut down on water usage.

* Energy efficiency. Eco-friendly guidelines cut energy usage from 24 percent to 50 percent, according to USGBC. The guideline gives extra points for building managers creating their own energy through means such as solar power.

* Indoor environmental quality. The guideline checks for the quality and potential health hazards in a building’s heating and air-conditioning system.

* Materials and resources. The guideline checks for use of recycled materials in a building’s materials, such as its concrete. It also checks if the retailer or a store participates in a recycling program.

Retailers will get extra LEED points for innovation—or creating new programs or ways to make buildings eco-friendly. People can make existing buildings eco-friendly through measures such as installing eco-friendly air-conditioning systems. They could also make their places more eco-friendly by using environmentally friendly paints on store walls or stocking the store’s break room with eco-friendly utensils.

Making buildings eco-friendly is crucial to protecting the environment, according to architect Elizabeth Moule. She estimated more than 75 percent of Americans’ energy use is expended through occupying and commuting to buildings. She claimed green buildings can reap cost savings in energy and water usage two to five years after the building debuts.

She is a principal of firm Moule & Polyzoides, based in Pasadena, Calif. She led the design of the Santa Monica, Calif., offices of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which she said is one of the greenest buildings in the world. —Andrew Asch