Walmart has announced plans to purchase energy-efficient LED ceiling lighting fixtures for new stores in the United States, Asia and Latin America, and Asda locations in the United Kingdom. The new fixtures will use 40% less energy than lighting sources historically used in stores, and will help further the retailer’s goal to reduce the kilowatt hour (kWh) per square foot of energy required to power Walmart’s buildings globally by 20% by 2020.
“We have worked to find and scale energy-efficient LED lighting solutions that are cost effective and high quality and now, working with GE, we’re paving the way to make this a mainstream solution for the retail industry,” said Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores. “LEDs have become an integral part of our energy efficiency model for our stores and play a key role in achieving our overall sustainability goals.”
With the main sales floor lighting representing approximately 90% of the total lighting usage in each building, this implementation will reduce energy use per store by more than 5% in the US alone. The lights have a longer life span than traditional lighting fixtures and also offer significant savings in maintenance costs.
With 200 new Walmart stores adopting the new GE LED ceiling lighting over the next two years, this amounts to a total energy savings of 620 million kWh over the next 10 years. Installation of the new GE LED ceiling lighting will kick off this month at Asda, Walmart’s business in the UK.
