Sustainable Design Practices for Retail Spaces

Besides environmental benefits, sustainable practices in water use can provide improved energy reduction and financial performance for retail outlets – primarily when it comes to pumping, water heating, and waste disposal.^[9]

Sustainable water use efforts in retail might include:^[10][11]

Water reuse:

• Rainwater harvesting, particularly for cooling and mechanical needs
• Greywater reuse systems

Water efficiency:

• Pressure management
• Fixtures such as those with reduced flushing volumes and faucet flow rates
• Efficient irrigation technologies such as drip
• Appliances that are optimised for both water use and energy efficiency
• Optimised cleaning operations

Exterior landscape design optimisation:

• The selection of native plant or drought-tolerant species that require minimal irrigation
• Reduced grass areas for minimal irrigation of outdoor spaces

Intelligent monitoring

• Water leak detection technologies
• Sub-metering for water usage patterns and improved water efficiency

Note: The above practices continue to develop with emerging research and developments in green building. To explore recent projects and contemporary practices, view the Rockfon Case Studies library.

The entire lifecycle of products and materials should be considered in efforts towards sustainable retail design.

Circularity begins at construction – in the European Union, construction and demolition waste, or CDW, accounts for more than a third of all waste generated.^[12]

By understanding the key differences between different building materials, interior finishes, and furniture, the architects, designers, and builders of retail spaces can make more sustainable choices about the materials and products they procure in new constructions and renovations alike.

• Production and construction emissions: Major factors to consider for the total impact of building materials and products are manufacturing production, transport, energy use of construction machines, processing energy use, and the disposal of waste.^[13]
• Reuse: The wide availability of second-hand markets makes it easy to purchase pre-owned items such as materials, building components, appliances, and furniture. Product modularity and adaptability mean that items can easily be relocated from one space to another, particularly useful in cases where retailers move locations. When it comes to building materials, the reuse potential for recovered materials from demolition waste varies from one material to the next, and as such should be taken into consideration. For example, the reuse potential for structural steel and cladding is high.^[14]
• Recycled: Many commonly-used materials can be recycled indefinitely, including steel, aluminium, glass, and stone. However, not all products with recycled content are equal. Materials that have recycled content that require resource-intensive technologies for separating, crushing, and processing can offset the goal of using recycled materials in the first place.
• Recyclability: Thinking ahead to the future, opting for products that can be recycled at the end of their service life allows them to ultimately re-enter the supply chain. A studied understanding of the recycling potential for the product at hand is key since many materials such as concrete and fibre-reinforced plastics cannot easily be recycled. Even when recycling options exist, the process tends to downgrade the quality and functionality to some extent.
• Durability: Durable products retain their quality and performance without requiring maintenance or replacement. As such, they consume less resources, create less waste in the long-run, and can stretch the environmental impact of their manufacturing emissions over a longer period.

Many of these material and product selection considerations across retail tie into the next point, design for disassembly.

Design for Disassembly

The complete lifecycle of all products and materials should be considered for truly sustainable retail design. Easy disassembly of building components allows for both reuse and recycling, ensuring they remain in the supply chain rather than heading for incineration or the landfill.

For reuse, products and materials ideally function (and look) just as well as they did when they were first installed. Product modularity is often convenient here.

As for recycling, when non-recyclable components cannot be salvaged from a material intended for recycling, they are considered contaminated. This often means they cannot be easily recycled. Contamination control is key to ensuring that disassembled products and materials maintain their recycling potential.

Products that can easily be disassembled often have:^[15]

• Materials with simple compositions
• Standard size components
• Mechanical joint methods (instead of gluing or welding)

By planning for the future and incorporating disassembly design right from the start, landlords of commercial spaces, their designers, and their tenants can take appropriate measures to extend the lifetime of the materials and products they use. This consideration is especially important in existing retail outlets that experience high tenant turnover.

For large-scale retail outlets with larger budgets, certification from green building rating schemes often make the financial investment worthwhile. They help to set measurable targets that are on par with the standards and possibilities that are being achieved worldwide.

There are also non-environmental benefits – certification from leading schemes has been demonstrated to improve a property's value as well as an overall brand image.

Three of the best-known certifications are:

• BREEAM: To acquire a BREEAM International New Construction certification, buildings and spaces need to meet specific requirements across energy, management, health and well-being, transport, water consumption and efficiency, materials, waste, pollution, resilience, and land use and ecology.
• DGNB: For new constructions, over 30 criteria address ecology, economy, sociocultural and functional aspects, technology, processes, and site.
• LEED: The certification criteria address metrics on carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health, and indoor environmental quality.

Such green building schemes are exhaustive and address all possible factors pertaining to sustainability for new constructions and renovations alike.

That said, even for smaller retail outlets that are not targeting any certification, the guidelines are often found to be useful as guiding frameworks.

1. Bhargava, Anamika, Steve Hoffman, and Nikola Jakic. n.d. “Climate Sustainability in Retail | McKinsey.” mckinsey.com. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/climate-sustainability-in-retail-who-will-pay.
2. “Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Electricity - World Nuclear Association.” n.d. World-Nuclear.org. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/energy-and-the-environment/carbon-dioxide-emissions-from-electricity.aspx#:~:text=Just%2020%25%20of%20final%20energy.
3. Cork, Centre, and Ireland. 2014. Resource Efficiency for the Retail Sector. Bishopstown, Cork: Cit Press.
4. EPA: Sector Collaborative on Energy Efficiency Accomplishments and next Steps, B27. n.d.
5. RE100, and CDP. 2018. “RE100 Technical Criteria.” January 2018.
6. Elnagar, Essam, and Benjamin Köhler. “Reduction of the Energy Demand with Passive Approaches in Multifamily Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings under Different Climate Conditions.” Frontiers in Energy Research 8 (September). https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2020.545272.
7. “Energy Efficient Products.” n.d. Commission.europa.eu. https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/energy-label-and-ecodesign/energy-efficient-products_en.
8. 2011. Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings. American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
9. 2011. Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings. American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
10. “Conserving Water for All People through LEED V4.1 | U.S. Green Building Council.” n.d. Www.usgbc.org. https://www.usgbc.org/articles/conserving-water-all-people-through-leed-v41.
11. Hoffman, Bill, and Mohamed Chebaane. n.d. Office Buildings Water Efficiency Guide. Edited by Cory Eldridge. USAID - Ministry of Water and Irrigation.
12. European Commission. 2021. “Construction and Demolition Waste.” Environment.ec.europa.eu. 2021. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/construction-and-demolition-waste_en.
13. Yan, Hui, Qiping Shen, Linda C.H. Fan, Yaowu Wang, and Lei Zhang. 2010. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Building Construction: A Case Study of One Peking in Hong Kong.” Building and Environment 45 (4): 949–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2009.09.014.
14. Hertwich, Edgar G, Saleem Ali, Luca Ciacci, Tomer Fishman, Niko Heeren, Eric Masanet, Farnaz Nojavan Asghari, et al. 2019. “Material Efficiency Strategies to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Buildings, Vehicles, and Electronics—a Review.” Environmental Research Letters 14 (4): 043004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3.
15. Rios, Fernanda Cruz, Wai K. Chong, and David Grau. 2015. “Design for Disassembly and Deconstruction - Challenges and Opportunities.” Procedia Engineering 118: 1296–1304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.485.