Walgreens, the pharmacy giant in the U.S. has announced that they have plans to reduce their carbon footprint by building a store that generates all of its required electricity on site.
Walgreens has launched what they are calling their Net Zero campaign which is their initiative to reduce energy usage in all their stores by at least 20% by the year 2020. As part of this initiative they are building a new self-sustaining store in Evanston, IL. The store will be located at the intersection of Chicago Avenue and Keeney Street, where demolition of an existing Walgreens store now is under way.
To generate power, the new store will use geothermal generators, wind turbines, and solar panels. To further conserve energy, LED lighting, and energy-efficient building materials will be used. Engineers are estimating that their energy saving store will only generate around 265,000 kilowatt hours per year. Walgreen’s vice president Thomas Connolly had this to say about the energy efficient project ” “We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and leading the retail industry in use of green technology”. Walgreens believes that since they operate over 8,000 stores in the U.S. their going “green” culture can and will have a significant positive impact on the environment.
A blueprint of what the store will look like:
The project is estimated to take 2 years to complete, but when it’s done it will be a positive impact for Evanston, Walgreens and of course most importantly, the Earth.
