World’s First LEED Platinum Supermarket Features Geothermal HVAC
Last month we brought you an interview with a Maine HVACR contractor who uses a unique business model to offer amazingly efficient coil cleaning services to a variety of commercial customers.
Matt Jacobs, owner of Northeast Coil, not only described his HVACR cleaning business but told us who some of his customers are. One of them is Hannaford, the major supermarket chain that reaches all the way from New York back to Maine and has 168 stores.
So we thought it worth bringing to your attention when Hannaford made news recently by opening a new store that’s the first supermarket in the world to achieve LEED platinum certification.
Greener Buildings (among others) reported on the story of Hannaford’s new 49,000-square-foot store in Augusta, Maine, which opened in late July. “From its roof sown with plants to the depths of its two geothermal wells, a new Hannaford supermarket has been declared the greenest of the green groceries in the United States,” Greener Buildings said. “It’s the first to earn the highest rating possible from the U.S. Green Building Council” (“New Hannaford Supermarket is First to Achieve LEED-Platinum Green Rating,” July 23).
In addition to a high performance “Green Chill” refrigeration system, the store boasts “two 750-foot deep geothermal wells on the property to help regulate the temperature in the store. Together, the systems make it possible for Hannaford to heat the store without relying on fossil fuels.” Read that last sentence twice to let its impact sink in. This is important stuff.
“Improving energy efficiency,” said Greener Buildings,
is a key challenge for food retailers whose imperatives are to keep perishables chilled properly and customers comfortable in buildings with large front doors that are constantly opening and shutting. Typically, refrigeration eats up the most energy (PDF) in a supermarket and accounts for more than half the electricity consumed. Lighting and HVAC systems are the No. 2 and No. 3 draws, respectively, on power.
Hannaford’s new store will use almost 40 percent less energy than a comparably sized store of conventional design as a result of high performance refrigeration, lighting and HVAC systems. The store also uses renewable energy sources to help light, warm and cool the site.
“There are a lot of firsts here,” Hannaford’s Director of Design Fred Conlogue told GreenerBuildings.com.
You can read more about the store by doing a simple web search. For instance, there’s a nice local story about it in the The Maine Democrat. Additionally, Hannaford has made available a very interesting virtual tour of the new facility, complete with a photo gallery, detailed facility info, and information about their “an interactive education center in the lobby which will give you more information on the innovative solutions implemented in our store.”
Matt Cardin, Goodway Blogging Team
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