Lidl Sweden has developed a new store concept with a strong environmental focus
Project Details
- Scheme & Version: New Construction 2013 Retail
- Stage: Final
- Location: Växjö, Sweden
- Score & Rating: 87.0% Outstanding
- Certificate Number: BREEAM-0070-0120
Project Team
- Client: Lidl Sverige KB
- BREEAM Assessor: COWI AB
- Developer: Lidl Sverige KB
- Contractor: Peab
- Project Manager: Lidl Sverige KB
- Architect / Design Team: Mikael Cederholm Arkitektgården
- Asset / Building Manager: Lidl Sverige KB
- Asset occupier(s): Lidl Sverige
About the building
Lidl Sweden aim to be the leading sustainable retailer. We wanted to be a forerunner and push the market in a sustainable direction by building the store of the future. BREEAM helped us see new opportunities and find better solutions, says Johan Augustsson, real estate director at Lidl Sweden.
Lidl Sweden has developed a new store concept with a strong environmental focus. To be able to achieve our ambition to be market leaders in Sweden within the environment and social responsibility, all coming stores are going to be certified. Since we are both owners as well as
tenants in the store it is even more important for us to create a sustainable building from a facitily management point of view.
Green Strategy
Lidl Sweden has the ambition to be market leaders within environmental and social responsibility. To be able to achieve this we have ambitious goals within every aspect of sustainability, among many for example:
- We aim to certify our stores according to the energy management system ISO 50001
- We have an award-winning waste management system, taking into consideration and minimizing the waste from the stores all the way to central warehouses.
- 100 % of the electricity consumption is generated from renewable green sources.
Why Choose BREEAM
For us as a global retail chain all around the world with a high international profile, BREEAM was the natural choice since it is world-known as well as covering all aspects of sustainability. It matches our ambition to be market leaders in Sweden within sustainability.
Key Facts
- It has contributed to the company’s dedication to and focus on sustainability: Internally information campaigns are carried out in order to involve all employees. This has created a strong commitment within the entire organization, resulting in a higher focus on sustainability in the daily operation as well as an increased sense of pride towards and for the organisation.
- Externally the BREEAM certification has been central in communication, marketing and job advertisements. The WOW factor is high: The unexpected fact that Lidl’s first BREEAM certification is the first retail project in Sweden reaching BREEAM Outstanding has contributed to a curiosity about the company among customers and job applicants as well as in the media, real estate companies and municipalities.
- One of the focus areas in the certification process has been long-term operation and
management. The project team has actively worked with the BREEAM related feasibility studies to question and test whether choices made in the past are the most favourable. - The building developed in Växjö will be copied/repeated in many locations around Sweden in the near future. Solutions developed in the project must, therefore, be wise and thoughtful to avoid poor choices being duplicated. Thereby the BREEAM certification has created conditions for better solutions in the rollout of the new stores.
- The BREEAM certification has also contributed to a very good relationship with the municipality of Växjö. Their commitment and interest has benefitted both ways: The location of Sweden’s first Outstanding retail building in Växjö has contributed to the cities sustainability profile with the claim of being “Europe’s greenest city”: The municipality will arrange national and international study visits to the Lidl store as an Outstanding example of sustainable building.
BREEAM Experience
The choice to aim at a certification at Outstanding level has been an important incentive that has enabled all Lidl individuals, in decision-making positions, to demand high standard solutions from the design team, suppliers and consultants, in all stages of the process.
The project has worked actively to find long-term sustainable solutions while also looking at the BREEAM requirements from a holistic perspective, with combinations of solutions resulting in synergy effects rather than looking at each BREEAM requirement as a standalone issue.
The response within the whole company has been enormous: Nowadays everybody at Lidl is talking about BREEAM and sustainability. When we started working with BREEAM we wanted to plant a seed within Lidl but ended up starting a green movement, says Johan Augustsson, real estate director at Lidl Sweden.
Future Feedback
Lidl has helped developing BREEAM as a system being the first pilot completing the Pre- Approval process of a building concept. Lidl intends to certify all future stores with BREEAM and by specifying systems solutions, compliant regardless of site it is possible to streamline the certification process and administrative work. Lidl has already moved on: Lidl Upplands Bro and Södertälje also has an Outstanding interim certificate and is about to send in their Post Construction reports.
In addition to the measures taken to improve energy efficiency and thus reduce the building’s energy consumption has extensive analysis been carried out by energy specialists to develop the most efficient and advantageous strategy for local on-site energy generation from renewable sources. A combination of reversible heat pumps with cold recovery from the food cooling and solar cells on the roof has been implemented resulting in a 33% reduction in CO₂ emissions.
The building has been designed, constructed and fitted out to ensure optimised thermal comfort and acoustic performance and low emitting internal finishes. The lighting strategy has been designed in line with best practice for visual performance and comfort to provide the best possible lighting environment from a health perspective. All fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps are fitted with high-frequency ballast.
The project has been located on an area of land which has previously been developed for use by commercial purposes. The land was of low ecological value pre-development and measures have been taken to
minimise the long-term impact on the biodiversity. New ecologically valuable habitat, appropriate to the local area has been created resulting in a significant increase in plant species.
The project has managed the construction site in an environmentally and socially considerate manner. Key individuals at the construction site have
been working actively to monitor, follow up and communicate the environmental strategies, goals and progression throughout the project. Procedures have been put in place to ensure a safe, clean and considerate construction site. In addition, has both moisture safety experts and BREEAM AP been involved in the project.
The refrigerants used within building services and cold storage systems have an ODP of 0 and GWP < 5 thus reducing the contribution to climate
change. The plant installed to meet the building’s space hating demand has low dry NOx emission levels. The building has been located in an area with a low risk for flooding and attenuation measures implemented to ensure that the peak rate run-off from the site to the municipal watercourse is no greater for the developed site
High focus on alternative modes of transportation:
– 4 electric quick recharging stations for cars supplied by local on-site generated solar power.
– 3 electric recharging stations for electrical bikes
– BREEAM compliant cycle storage spaces
– Travel Information Point The relatively low percentage of transport points depends on the location of the store, lacking frequent public transportation.
All features in BREEAM were implemented apart from Wst 2 – Recycled Aggregates.
Several water saving features have been addressed in the project: Low water
use fittings equipped with solenoid valves for water supply shut off, water
meters, leak detectors, landscaping and planting that relies solely on precipitation.
Within the area of Materials, the project has not refrained from working with, perhaps the most demanding administrative BREEAM issues Mat 5 and Mat 6. The purchasers have increased the demands on the suppliers and requested documentation confirming that the building materials has been responsibly sourced. Suppliers not being able to live up to the requirements have been replaced in favour of better alternatives yet encouraged to review their supply chain from a responsible sourcing point of view for the future.