Analysis Of H-E-B Grocery Store

I chose to look at the H-E-B Grocery store near me located in Austin, Texas. I also chose it because I spend a lot of money at H-E-B every month. H-E-B, according to their website takes an impressive approach to reducing their carbon foot print. For the Austin area, they claim to use 39 million kWh of renewable power. For the San Antonio area, 25 million kWh of the power is from renewable power. Six of their stores are LEED certified, and these concepts will integrated into new store designs, though not expected to be submitted for LEED certification. Projects like these including retrofits for energy conserving options, give the company bragging rights of having reduced its utility usage by 20% networkwide. Considering the energy requirements for these facilities, this is quite an accomplishment.

Based on the website information, it stands to reason that H-E-B would build this new structure with energy reduction in mind. For me, this project is exactly what I mean in terms of IRR or ROI for this kind of structure. According to the AIA website,
Energy consumption was their focus, and approaches to address these to achieve the expected 64% reduction included the HVAC, refrigeration and cooling. Understanding this, the owners and designers made this the focal point in terms of resource reduction. This included HVAC, lighting, and refrigeration for both frozen and refrigerated foods. For example, propane refrigeration was employed eliminating most CFCs and ozone depleting chemicals from these systems. Hi efficiency fans, duct work, radiant cooling/heating and dehumidification of air also added to the energy requirements of the structure. Refrigerated water-cooled cases were installed that use less refrigerant to reduce CFC