Energy


Our approach is to make changes for the long term, so that improved energy efficiency becomes embedded throughout our business. We continue to fit the latest technology into our existing estate and new shops, and to engage Partners in helping to deliver reductions locally.


 


We are committed to reducing the impact of the energy we use. Our approach is to reduce energy demand and use low-carbon sources of energy. For example, our refurbishment of Waitrose Richmond resulted in a circa 60% reduction in carbon dioxide equivalent emissions – a result partly achieved by lower electricity and gas usage.


 


Our improvements in operational energy efficiency were offset by the prolonged cold weather last winter, which significantly impacted our gas consumption, due to increased heating needs. In 2010/11, our overall shop energy efficiency was 115.1kWh per square foot in Waitrose and 48.4kWh per square foot in John Lewis, representing a 2% and 1.5% drop in efficiency respectively.


 


(Photo of John Lewis store)


Closing the door on energy loss


The Partnership is supporting the national ‘Close the Door’ campaign to save energy. This campaign aligns with our store practices, such as installing automatic doors to shopfront entrances.


 


Research from the University of Cambridge found that closing a door when heating is turned on reduces energy use by up to 50% and cuts a shop’s annual emissions by up to 10 tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to three return flights from London to Hong Kong.


 


Renewable sources


Our electricity is currently derived from ‘green’ sources. We are keen to improve both the provenance of our energy sources and the quality of the information we subsequently provide.


 


Through agreements with our energy suppliers, from October 2011 virtually all of our electricity (circa 97%) will be sourced from renewable sources such as wind, water power, biomass, municipal and industrial waste, and landfill gas. While this is from ‘grid’ sources, we are also investing in generating our own renewable energy, such as at our first energy centre at Waitrose East Cowes (see below).


 


In addition, electricity from a tomato suppliers’ combined heat and power scheme is powering our Waitrose Rickmansworth store, while a waste recycling plant produces energy for John Lewis Cardiff, and John Lewis Southampton sources heat from the local geothermal district heating scheme (of which energy is partly derived from naturally occurring underground heat). The remaining electricity is provided via a small number of inherited energy contracts.


 


On site renewables


Creating renewable energy centres to operate off-grid is a key initiative in our carbon reduction plan. We hope to install up to 150 renewable energy centres or equivalent means of generating renewable energy by 2020/21.


 


In 2010, we received planning permission for a woodchip-fuelled combined cooling heat and power plant at our new Waitrose East Cowes shop on the Isle of Wight. The energy centre is currently under construction. This will provide the electricity, heating and cooling needs for the shop and some of the surrounding new developments. The woodchip will be sourced locally and to deliver wider benefits, we have designed a visitors’ area to provide information for the local community.





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