One of the easiest ways to help the environment is to conserve the amount of energy we all use. It would be really simple (not really) to just stop using energy altogether but of course this is not practical nor does it make good business sense. It’s business that drives the human condition and for that, lot’s of energy is required. In order to maintain or increase the quality of life that we have, energy is required ‘en masse’ to power our lives. The real trick when it comes to energy conservation is to be able to increase productivity while at the same time decreasing energy usage without any noticeable impact. Now that’s a skill that requires quite a bit more knowledge than just shutting off extra lights when not needed.

Over the past 5 years, I have worked extensively in the retail sector with regards to energy conservation and on many occasions would visit not only my own company’s stores but would also routinely visit the competition’s stores as well. One of the first things I noticed was the use of electricity within the retail environment, specifically the lighting levels and the areas lit (or not lit that should be) as well as the store temperature throughout the building envelope. One of my biggest annoyances was the common practice of voluntary “load shedding”. Load shedding as defined by the dictionary is “the process of cutting off the electric current on certain lines when the demand becomes greater than the supply”. From a voluntary standpoint (and in layman’s terms) it was the intentional reduction of lighting and air conditioning throughout the store during off peak business hours in an effort to save money and energy.

Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe in load shedding for some businesses but I’m not a big fan of it for retailers. I believe that there are many other ways to reduce consumption without sacrificing the shopping experience all retailers want to give their customers. For example, one of the things I had the opportunity to work on was the implementation of a proprietary, custom designed reflector for the overhead lights that enabled the stores to reduce their lighting loads by almost a third with virtually no noticeable difference in lighting levels.

I was a bit skeptical at first and had seen many other reflector technologies that would cause temporary blindness if you looked directly at them; however this type of lighting conservation technology made practical business sense. For one thing, it allowed the stores to maintain a bright, consistent lighting level without dark areas which is critical for any retail business. Second, since the amount of light bulbs was reduced by about a third, the store was not as hot and the secondary benefit was a cooler operating store. The amount of energy saved by implementing this type of technology far exceeds that which may be saved using a load shedding program and it won’t interfere with the sales process by creating a dark uninviting shopping experience.  This is just one of many types of new energy conservation technologies available today that “Green” professionals can recommend that make good business sense to enhance the overall quality of the retail experience. If you’re in retail, the next time you’re considering drastic measures to reduce energy demand, call an expert and let us help guide you on the light path.