Staples Makes LED Lighting Part of Its Energy Strategy for Competitive Advantage

Staples’ energy policy is rooted in its commitment to protect natural resources through sustainable business practices. This commitment covers four major areas:

• Purchase and promotion of products containing post-consumer recycled materials,
• Energy conservation and renewable-power procurement,
• Recycling initiatives, and
• Environmental education to build awareness among associates and consumers

Staples opened its first “green store” prototype in 2003, in East Wareham, Mass. It was built from the ground up to be as energy efficient as possible, starting with the materials used in its construction. Several of the lighting designs to save energy include:

• T-8 single-lamp fixtures with dimmable ballasts (work in con-junction with skylights)
• High-efficiency pulse-start parking-lot lights
• LED signage
• Back-room motion sensors

Energy planning is carefully integrated into Staples’ organizational model. The chain’s energy team, in place for many years, develops strategies for each component of energy management on an annual basis.

Staples joined EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program in 2002, with a commitment to purchase 2% of its total energy load from green or renewable power sources by the end of 2003. The chain made good on its promise and then some. Currently, renewable power accounts for 10% of the chain’s total annual
U.S. electricity consumption, making it the largest purchaser of green power in retail