We have written about the future of lighting before and now Starbucks is leading the charge for LED lighting.
In 2008 the world’s largest coffee shop explored replacing incandescent and halogen lights with LED lights, but they could not find a commercially viable product that met their specific requirements. So Starbucks collaborated with GE to find a solution. GE developed an energy efficient LED light product that works within Starbuck’s design and functional requirements.
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 U.S. locations. It will expand the program to international markets in March 2010, aiming to complete installation in more than 8,000 company-owned stores around the world by the end of 2010. Following global implementation, Starbucks projects a 7 percent per-store reduction in energy use. This improvement will contribute toward the company’s goal of achieving a 25 percent reduction in energy use by the end of 2010.
In addition to the LED lighting program Starbucks has entered into the construction phase of the LEED Volume Certification Program. Over the next six months, Starbucks will build or renovate a minimum of 10 pilot stores in six different bioregions around the world. Once the pilot stores’ environmental strategies are audited and approved, they can be replicated elsewhere. This capability will allow Starbucks to reach its goal of achieving LEED certification for all new company-owned stores worldwide beginning in late 2010.
