Challenge
Retail buildings in the United States have the highest energy costs of all commercial buildings, approximately $20 billion annually, and account for the second largest percentage of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.i Retail building managers can decrease their energy costs and associated greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency initiatives.
Toys"R"Us is one of the world’s leading specialty toy and baby products retailers, selling merchandise globally through more than 1,600 stores in more than 35 countries as well as through the company’s website.
Response
Toys"R"Us began partnering with KKR’s Green Solutions Platform (GSP) team in 2015, focusing on energy use reduction in its facilities to reduce associated costs and GHG emissions. In 2015, the company undertook a number of projects to improve operations and impact, some of which are highlighted below:
- At the Babies"R"Us stores, replaced 75-watt halogen bulbs with 18-watt LED bulbs in approximately 8,000 lamps.
- At the headquarters in New Jersey, identified unnecessary off-hour energy use through a night audit, which resulted in operational changes for lighting scheduling, kitchen usage, and other miscellaneous power use. Significant savings were achieved by reducing lighting use by two hours per day.
- Reviewed the store chain lighting schedule, which resulted in beneficial adjustments that yielded lower energy usage and associated costs.
- Replaced high wattage high-bay lighting fixtures with an LED lighting solution.
- Replaced fluorescent plug-n-play strip fixtures with an LED lighting solution.
Resultsii
In 2016 and beyond, Toys"R"Us is continuing to focus on the energy efficiency of its facilities and is considering or actively implementing the following activities:
- Continuing the lighting upgrade program.
- Rolling out a retro-commissioning program in its facilities.
- Improving energy performance through benchmarking and in depth analysis on lowest performing stores.
Toys“R”Us began participating KKR’s green program in 2015 and is communicating results for the second time.