The ambitious plan will make the company the first grocery retailer in the UK to power all its supermarkets entirely by LED.
Sainsbury’s is to add Internet of Things capabilities to its lighting in an ambitious plan that will see all of its stores become 100 per cent LED by 2020, the retail giant has announced.
The plan will make the company the first grocery retailer in the UK to power all its supermarkets entirely by LED lighting.
Some 250,000 luminaires will be retrofitted in 250 superstores in the next three years in addition to those already installed during the company’s ongoing roll-out.
The new fixtures are part of a deal with Current, GE’s low-energy technology supplier, which will see energy used by the lighting reduced by 58 per cent.
Sainsbury’s sustainability chief Paul Crewe says customers expect the retailer to do the right thing on their behalf. ‘They can be reassured that, day or night, when they visit a Sainsbury’s supermarket, we’ve made a significant in-road into creating a greener supermarket for them.’
The lighting could also be used as a platform for sensors and beacons, allowing interaction with customers. GE’s Predix Internet-of-Things network can transform the lighting into a smart digital infrastructure that uses data and analytics to optimise energy usage, employee productivity and customer interaction.
Sainsbury’s sustainability chief Paul Crewe told Lux: ‘We’ve almost halved the carbon emissions of our stores since 2005, and in the last 12 months we’ve reduced our electricity use by 11.6 per cent despite growing our operation by 54 per cent’.
‘Our customers expect us to do the right thing on their behalf, and they can be reassured that, day or night, when they visit a Sainsbury’s supermarket, we’ve made a significant in-road into creating a greener supermarket for them.’
The project will support Sainsbury’s Sustainability Plan, which calls for carbon emissions by be cut by 30 per cent from 2005 levels. The target has spurred numerous energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives across its many UK stores, from LED retrofits to solar panels, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps. To date, Sainsbury’s has already cut absolute carbon emissions by more than 20 percent and is on track to achieve its 2020 target.
Current is delivering the massive lighting retrofit as a turnkey service, embedding financing with lighting design, product supply, installation and project management services.
LUX VIDEO REPORT: THE BIG SAINSBURY’S LED ROLL-OUT
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