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Aldi Stores Limited approached us with an interesting proposition – What does a sustainable Aldi store look like, what technologies does it engage, and can it deliver a low embodied and operational carbon figures whilst delivering the efficient Aldi store model. Through a vigorous design process with specialist consultants and contractors a new store format emerged, one which would deliver the most sustainable version of an Aldi store – from which learnings could be taken to inform the next generation of Aldi’s standard store offerings.
The Aldi floor plan is an efficient retail offering, finely balancing refrigeration with ambient and non-food related products, subsequently the energy usage of an Aldi per square meter of retail space is higher than traditional food retailers. At the time of the project there was also no recognised low carbon benchmark for retailers in the UK, as such we looked to the continent for a target, with the Dutch Green Building Councils Retail Target providing a framework for the project.
The store harnesses passive design solutions, reduces material usage, specifies low lifecycle carbon products, creates a super efficient thermal envelope with a minimal embodied carbon total, reduces energy demand through plant efficiency improvements assisted by the introduction of chiller doors, and many other initiatives. All these improvements significantly reduce the required operational energy demand, with onsite renewable energy generation harnessed.
