[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: WalMart goes Green

[Lawrence Lile]

>Thanks for the heads up. Interesting presentation. My first reactions
are:

>1) They should do more.
>2) I'm not convinced that they'll really do what they say they will
>(corporate 
>distrust and all that).
>3) I hope I'm wrong about #2.

My company does engineering work for Wal-Mart, and believe me, they are
doing these things.  Recent utility price increases have writ the
writing on the wall in large, blinking neon letters.  Wal-mart was
already focused on energy conservation several years ago, and people
inside the organization have begun to really see paybacks and benefits. 

Thousands of their stores have worn out air conditioners that were put
in when SEER 8 was hot stuff.  Moving to modern high efficiency AC is a
no-brainer for these guys, and going to save them millions in utility
costs.  Much of that 20% decrease in energy will come from replacing AC
wholesale.  

When an organization is growing fast, energy efficiency doesn't make
much sense to the bean counters. (That's why I don't count beans)  A
dollar spent on a new store in a new town gets them much quicker payback
than a dollar spent on an efficient light bulb.  New stores get a lot of
attention, and people pack into them in droves.  These guys might
literally pay back the cost of a new store in months.   But as a company
matures, it ceases to grow at such a rapid rate, and it has all this old
infrastructure that needs attention.  Bean counters start looking for
paybacks of 1-2 years or less, and energy efficiency starts to look very
attractive.  

Yes, I wish they could do more, but I'll bet they've put a real sharp
pencil to these 20 or 25% reductions, and these are the best payback
they can muster.