Display & Design Ideas - February 2009 - (Page 26)

26 right light Left: Save Mart’s new energy-efficient store in Riverbank, Calif., will save $51,500 annually. Right: The store's interior illumination plan is based on daylight harvesting. Photos: © Modesto Irrigation District Market rebate Save Mart’s new Riverbank, Calif., store earns a $46,000 energy-savings rebate By Vilma Barr, New York Editor ave Mart Supermarkets, a 250-store Modesto, Calif.based chain, has instituted stringent cost-control practices since its beginnings 57 years ago. Now, in collaboration with the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) in California, the company is applying new energy-saving lighting techniques that produce both short- and longterm benefits. Integration of natural and artificial illumination in the new Riverbank, Calif., market contributed to the initial success of the program. Overall, when Save Mart’s Riverbank store opened in late summer 2008, it qualified for a $46,000 MID rebate (or $0.82 per sq. ft.). Estimated annual savings of 672,000 kilowatt hours per year, totaling $51,500 in the first 12 months (or $0.99 per sq. ft.) would supply enough power for 66 average-size homes, according to the MID. The MID, serving the San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties in California’s fertile Central Valley, provides water and energy for residents, agriculture and other businesses in the area. As a not-for-profit public power agency, it established the MID Energy Services Department to help commercial customers take advantage of the state’s mandated energy-efficiency standards. “MID energy experts are trained to help businesses cut S through the clutter,” says Queta Maldonado, an MID major account representative. Early in 2008, Maldonado learned that Save Mart was building a new market in the nearby community of Riverbank. “They had already broken ground, but there was still time to modify the plans to take advantage of the rebate and to show them how to lower their annual storewide electric usage,” Maldonado recounts. She contacted Ray Agah, Save Mart’s vice president of engineering. Together, they reviewed the plans drawn up by Save Mart’s in-house architectural department and identified additional energy-saving opportunities. Leading the list was the lighting program. “Daylight harvesting was central to the plan for interior illumination,” Agah explains. “Starting at the entrance is a 20-ft.by-50-ft. vaulted skylight that runs to the rear of the store. Placed throughout the ceiling are 50 half-dome, 2ft.-by-4-ft. rectangular skylights.” Mounted on the bar joist that frames the main skylight are luminaires fitted with four 100-watt metal halide lamps. Agah points out that the lamps are on sensors that turn them on as the amount of daylight is reduced, or on cloudy days. Augmenting the daylighting and metal halide fixtures are T8 fluorescent fixtures, affixed from the ceiling to hang at a 12-ft. level above the floor. “There are two lamps per fixture, and they are programmed to be switched on alternately,” Agah indicates. “Throughout the store, day and night, we maintain a 120-footcandle level,” he says. Accent lighting is added to the environment to highlight the bakery, dairy cases, and meat and seafood displays. In the bakery section, pendant-hung glass-shade fixtures containing 13-watt compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) beam down on the cases and packaged merchandise, outlining and identifying the section. “The installed CFL lamps are equal in output to a 60-watt incandescent,” Agah stresses. He is proud of the fact that the cost to power exterior signage compared with existing Save Mart stores is 75 percent less at Riverbank with the installation of 25-watt LEDs. Interior signs are also lit with LEDs. Other energy-saving programs in operation at Riverbank were eligible to be counted into the total to qualify for the MID rebate. These include air curtains at the entries to minimize infiltration from outside air and to save on heating and air conditioning; collecting and reusing the cold air that drops to the bottom of refrigerator cases and redirecting it to the store’s air conditioning system; and occupancy sensors in offices, bathrooms and storage areas. “Riverbank was the first completed new Save Mart store, and we are hoping to sign on additional units to take part in the Business Rebate program,” Maldonado urges. Agah confirms that the total construction cost to create Riverbank in its final green form was no higher than the expenditure to build a typical standard supermarket. “It’s a matter of trimming costs where necessary and negotiating a good contract,” he notes. To e-mail this article, visit www.ddimagazine.com/magazine. February 2009 www.ddimagazine.com http://www.ddimagazine.com/magazine http://www.ddimagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Display & Design Ideas - February 2009

Display & Design Ideas - February 2009
From the Editor
Contents
News Watch
Book Report
Editor's Choice
Cover Story: Channel Focus: Toy Retail
Zu + Elements
Zonik
Weathering the Storm: Part 1
Right Light
Product Spotlight
GlobalShop Preview
GlobalShop Products
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Think Tank

Display & Design Ideas - February 2009