You probably haven’t noticed, but there has been a big change in some Starbucks stores. In fact, we hope you haven’t noticed – we’ve been switching out incandescent and halogen light bulbs in our stores for new LED bulbs which use significantly less energy - about 7% less energy per store, in fact. Based on a typical store, this will be equivalent to the energy used in a typical home for a year!
LED bulbs have come a long way and we’ve been able to find some that provide the quality of light we needed in our stores – warm, inviting, and makes the coffee look even more delicious, and our customers even more beautiful. We did this by reaching out to GE, who developed a highly energy-efficient LED bulb that complements Starbucks store design approach and fits existing fixtures. There are still some places in the store where we use compact fluorescents, and we have a closed loop recycling program to ensure they are handled properly. Work continues on LEDs that can replace them, but we know that using less electricity, which is mostly still generated by coal in the US, is the better answer.
Starbucks has begun implementing the LED lighting conversion program in all company-owned stores in the U.S. and Canada, and has already completed installation in more than 1,000 US locations. We will expand the program to international markets, aiming to complete installation in more than 8,000 company-owned stores around the world by the end of 2010. While our electricity use decreased by only 1.7 percent from 2008 to 2009 while we were just getting the LED program started, we’re hoping for a considerable reduction following global implementation of our LED conversion in 2010. We’re also looking at other innovative ways to minimize our energy use as existing equipment and appliances are replaced. All of this will help us work toward our goal of a 25% more energy efficient new store by 2010.
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posted by jholder