The Fresh Market, Walgreens, Honored by GE for Lighting Efficiency

The Fresh Market and Walgreens were honored for their efforts in lighting efficiency during GE Lighting’s 3rd annual LED & Energy Efficient Lighting Trends for Retail conference at the lighting unit’s global headquarters in East Cleveland, Ohio, last week, where 45 retailers gathered to share best practices, learn about new technologies and discuss emerging trends that can deliver immediate and sustained environmental and financial gains, while enhancing the visual appeal of products.

The Fresh Market took home the LED Retailer of the Year award for incorporating LED PAR38s into 40 percent of its stores for both accent and general lighting applications.

“We were able to reduce our energy use while still maintaining a very high quality of light to improve the customer experience and the overall aesthetics of our stores,” said Paul Poole, corporate energy manager of The Fresh Market.

Walgreens received GE’s Retailer of the Year award to acknowledge the company’s transition from F28 to F25 linear fluorescent lamps, a strategic move that enabled the company to achieve a 9 percent energy savings while also extending its re-lamp cycle—how frequently it changes bulbs—by 10 percent. At the end of 2011, Walgreens will have more stores than any GE customer in the world using F25 linear fluorescent lamps.

“Together with GE, we’ve made unprecedented use of more efficient lighting systems that also enhance the shopping experience in our stores with a cleaner, brighter look,” said Walgreens divisional VP of facilities management Tim Schmid. “This is just one example of our overall sustainability commitment aimed at maximizing the use of human, capital and natural resources to positively impact the communities we serve.”

LED Retailer of the Year criteria included outstanding contributions to the LED industry by retrofitting at least 20 percent or more of stores to LED; demonstration of significant energy reduction—must have experienced at least 20 percent energy savings or more by moving to an LED technology; and LED technology should have visually improved the appearance of their stores in a way that is recognizable by customers.

GE Retailer of the Year criteria included outstanding contributions to the lighting industry by using energy efficient products in 80 percent of more of their stores; demonstration of innovative lighting techniques that have improved the visual aesthetics of their stores; and demonstrated positive impact on the community.

Walmart, one of the featured retailers at the GE conference, has set a goal to use 100-percent LED lighting in all of its 5,366 stores through new construction and retrofitting.

“We began our LED journey with our exterior signage and realized this could be a sustainable, long-term lighting solution. Switching to LEDs was a no brainer,” said Charles Zimmerman, VP of international design and construction with Walmart. “Now we’re using LEDs in display cases, parking lots and throughout the store, and now our LED lights are outliving our refrigerated display cases, providing zero maintenance.”