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Retail: Greener than you thought?
Retailers may be more interested in greening projects than designers think, according to A.R.E.'s State of Sustainability 2012 survey. Only 14% of retailers indicated a lack of commitment to sustainability, while two-thirds of designers find projects in which there is no request for sustainability at all as the highest or next-to-highest percentage of their retail work. Kinda makes one wonder who is getting all that green building work. More than half of retailers responding set green building goals for at least some projects, and more than a third say they prefer sustainable strategies even though they do not set specific green building goals.

   
And what do they want to green? Again, more than designers think. And possibly not for the reason they think. Designers indicated flagships and other high-profile locations account for the most retail green building projects, which would suggest that public attention is a great motivator. But retailers don’t push sustainability heavily to consumers — only 41% actively promote it. Instead, the driving forces would seem to be savings and ... dare we say it, the desire to do the right thing. They showed the most interest in greening new stores (81%) and major renovations (70%). Flagships and prototypes also are green targets, but for less than half of retail respondents. And designers may be surprised at the other project types they'll throw into the green mix: minor refreshes, window displays, even pop-ups. One retailer noted that the company’s current focus was on greening pop-ups, while another said the company is currently developing a strategy for shop-in-shops and fixtures.

If sustainable design is so desired, why aren't designers seeing more demand for it? Perhaps it all boils down to the Almighty Dollar. Retailers weight both initial cost and return on investment heavily in decisions about sustainable strategies and products, outranked only by quality. Cost was by far the most frequently mentioned challenge in their write-in comments. Responses from designers and suppliers confirm that client decisions about sustainable strategies and materials often revolve around cost and ROI.

   
Painting the retail picture a deeper shade of green, then, may hinge on lower costs, better returns, commitment to do it despite budgetary challenges, or some combination of these.

With suppliers ranking material sourcing as their top issue in participating in green projects, the cost of fixtures and other interior elements may depend on the availability of greener raw material options. As demand grows and more such materials enter the market, however, the situation may improve.

ROI has been the calling card of green building advocates for some time now. If retailers would just break down the store planning and operations silos, so the theory went, they would see the profitability of green building. Indeed, they have — for strategies like retrofitting lighting to more efficient LEDs. But as our Sustainability Council pointed out, retail is hampered by the short life cycle of projects relative to the return on many strategies.

That's where commitment comes in. The interest shown by retailers responding to the survey seems promising. See more on the State of Green in the July/August issue of Retail Environments magazine.
Created By: Hidden Member On: Fri, Jun 29, 2012 11:28 AM

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