Wal-Mart Opens Store With Sustainable Design

Several of the design's green initiatives have not been tried in a retail setting before.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 10/19/2005

Retail giant Wal-Mart is embarking on a new, greener frontier. The international retailer’s newest location is built with an environmentally concise and ecologically responsible goal in mind.

Key experiments include an environmentally-friendly gas station, wind energy, solar energy experiments unique to a retail setting, porous pavement and new storm-water run off controls, snow melt and radiant floor heating systems, and waterless urinals. Creative solutions even address fried chicken--waste oil boilers will burn vegetable oil, a bi-product from frying chicken, as well as used motor oil. Plus, product from the local airport was used to construct the facility’s foundation and monument signs.

The facility is located at Aurora Supercenter at Gateway Park, 3301 North Tower Road, Aurora, Colorado.

Wal-Mart Stores includes Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam's Club locations in the United States. Internationally, the company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.