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BALZAC, AB — The newest Walmart Canada fresh and frozen food distribution center is expected to be 60 percent more energy efficient that Walmart's other centers and is topped by wind turbines and solar panels.
The $115 million, 400,000 square foot facility in Balzac, Alberta, features the company's first foray with vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells and with on-site wind turbines and solar thermal panels.
Two 30-kilowatt wind turbines are on the ground of the center, which distributes frozen and fresh goods to 104 stores in western Canada, and 16 solar thermal panels will provide energy for heating water for offices and maintenance.
The refrigeration system in the center includes demand-response capabilities so that it can pull electricity during off-peak times. Ammonia is used as a coolant in the system instead of chlorofluorocarbons like Freon, making the cooling system 33 percent more energy efficient.
To avoid wasting energy from losing cool air, the center's doorways between areas that are different temperatures were designed to have smaller gaps between them and the vehicles that will be going through them, windows were eliminated from dock door designs, electronic monitors were installed to make sure no doors are not accidentally left open, and automatic doorways create air flows that keep air from going into areas with different temperatures.
The warehouse and parking lot are lit by LEDs, which provided an added benefit for refrigerated areas since they don't produce heat like incandescent lights.
Also, the 71 vehicles used to move goods around are powered by hydrogen fuel cells instead of lead acid batteries, halving vehicle-related carbon dioxide emissions.
All together, Walmart Canada expects all of the center's energy features to help it avoid $4.8 million in energy expenses over five years.
Balzac distribution center - Courtesy Walmart
Funny that for years we have
Funny that for years we have seen these large consumer stores integrating translucent panels into building roofs to allow natural sunlight and passive heating. It only makes sense that with the vast amount of roof area they would take the next step and integrate solar panels.
Why doesn't Wal-Mart put PV
Why doesn't Wal-Mart put PV panels and Wind turbines on all it's stores? I know in the state of Iowa offers some rebates on the installation of these, so it would be a win-win for Wal-Mart and the envioroment.
on Wal*Mart's China web
on Wal*Mart's China web page!
"Wal-Mart China persists in local procurement which provides more job opportunities, supports local manufacture industry and promotes local economy. So far, 95% of merchandising sold at Wal-Mart China store are local products by which Wal-Mart has established business relations with nearly 20,000 suppliers. At Wal-Mart, we treat suppliers as partners and would like to develop with them. In 2008 Wal-Mart won the Supplier Satisfaction published by Business Information of Shanghai for five consecutive years."
5% foreign in China...
That doesn't support American exports and American jobs.
Remember what Lance Winslow wrote in that article "The Flow of Trade in a Global Economy"....
"Now let us look at Wal-Mart again; you buy a product there, 6% goes to the employees, 10-18% is profit to the company, 25% goes to other costs and 50% goes to re-stock or the cost of goods sold. Of the 50% about 20-25% goes to China, a guess, but you get the point. Now then, how long will it take at 433 Billion dollars at year for China to have all of our money, leaving no money flow for us to circulate? At a 17 Trillion dollar economy less than 40-years minus the 1/6 they buy from us. Some say that if we keep putting money into our economy, it would take forever, but if we do not then eventually all the money flow will go. If China buys our debt then eventually they own us, no need to worry about a war, they are buying America, due in part to our own mismanaged trade, so whose fault is that? Not necessarily China, as they are doing what's in the best interests, and we should make sure that trade is not only free, but fair too."
Think for a moment about George Washington....yes the man that is on the US dollar bill....How do you think George feels being sent overseas in return for all that foreign so-call cheap items and being left in a foreign bank because the American worker doesn't make anything for the foreigners to buy. Cheap items didn't make this great union of 50 states the greatest place on the face of this Earth.....the American worker (union and non-union) did.
You can't have a strong country without having a strong currency and you can't have a strong currency unless you keep it floating around within your 50 states. This is why the store with the star in the name puts 95% China made items in their stores in China....to keep their "yuan" in their country helping the nice people there. And with only 5% left for all the other 182 country's that make stuff including the United States of America....that doesn't produce very many jobs outside of China.
Being an old person myself and knowing how it was back in the 40's, 50's and 60's in this union of 50 states....I look at George each time I pull him out of my billfold and make a promise to send him out for items made in America so after floating around helping each hand he touches just maybe one day he will shake mine again.
Fifteen cargo ships pollute as much as 760 million automobiles.
$9 billion a year in hidden taxes to all American taxpayers to clean fish from ballast tanks of ships...
think about all those facts the next time you pull that George out of your pocket....
Retail makes NOTHING...
Governments only make MORE DEBT...
It's time for less of those two and for America to get back to what it does best....MAKE STUFF..
cause George Washington on that dollar can't help anyone in the United States of America if he is being held in a foreign hand.
Made In America is the only way out of this mess cause foreign made put US here.
For large industrial centers
For large industrial centers like this, it seems that installing solar panels and looking at on-site wind turbines would be standard practice. With so much roof area and often excess land that could support a small turbine, these types of buildings seem very well-suited for this type of energy plan. I’d be curious to know why it’s not more common. Does it not make economic sense or do developers and tenants just not even consider it? And beyond industrial buildings, solar panels seem like an obvious way to save on operating expenses and reduce carbon output for any commercial or large residential building, yet you rarely see them in urban areas.