VMSD - November 2017 - 40

SPECIAL REPORT: GREEN TRENDS

6+ billion

awareness, [they] will then desire to know more, and
only then will they be in a position to vote with their
dollars and support those businesses [that] demonstrate a true commitment to operate responsibly."

The number of LEEDcertified commercial
square feet

167

SOLEIL FOR DAYS
Retail represents 20 percent of all buildings in the U.S.,
according to the U.S. Green Building Council, and retailers have been ramping up efforts over the past several
years to implement LEED-certified building standards.
Many stores have turned to solar panels, including
Kohl's, IKEA and The Home Depot, which recently
announced it would be rolling out mini-rooftop solar
farms to 50 of its stores.
TreeHouse (Austin, Texas), a startup home
improvement brand that helps homeowners reduce
their carbon footprint, took the concept further in its
35,000-square-foot Dallas store this past June, opening
reportedly the world's first net-positive energy store.
Equipped with rooftop solar panels, a large battery
system and finely tuned utility configurations, the
store provides more energy than it consumes, pushing
the excess back onto the electrical grid for local use.
In co-founding his company and the brand's two
locations, TreeHouse CEO Jason Ballard credits his
upbringing in Texas, and the juxtaposition of the
state's breathtaking landscapes with its abundance of
petroleum refineries, for instilling in him a passion for

The number of
countries and territories
with LEED projects

38,600+
Total number of LEEDcertified commercial
projects
GLOBA L S TATISTI CS , A S O F JU LY
2 017 / SOURCE: U . S. G REEN
BUILDIN G COU N CI L

NOVEMBER 2017

VMSD.COM

protecting the Earth.
"We had ambitions to be examples of the things we
hoped for in the world," says Ballard.
Working with Tesla (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Lake
Flato Architects (San Antonio, Texas), the process
involved quite a bit of trial and error, explains Ballard:
"[We were] plowing new fields ... we didn't have any
other great model to look at. It took a lot of energy
modeling and value engineering until we got to a place
where we needed to be."
Lighting and air conditioning were the two greatest
energy hogs that required careful tweaking: Increasing
natural lighting to reduce the use of artificial lighting
increased indoor temperatures, creating a need for
alternative cooling methods. By utilizing dehumidifiers
and installing oversized industrial fans, the air conditioning only kicks in when the building is above a comfortable temperature, which has been greatly limited.
TreeHouse projects that its initial investment on the
system will pay for itself within three years.
As for the longevity of solar energy? "I don't see an
end in sight," says Ballard. "The writing is on the wall that
the primary energy source in the future will be solar."
WALK THE TALK
With recent innovations in lighting and materials,
the built environment has more opportunities to be
designed with ecological impact in mind than ever

AND RE A C ALO , AU STI N, TE XAS

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of VMSD - November 2017