The leader in big box retail development is now aiming to take the retail lead in sustainable design and green building. In 2005, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened two environmentally experimental stores, one in McKinney, Texas, and another in Aurora, Colo. These facilities feature a number of measures designed to make the buildings 25-to-30 percent more efficient to operate and to produce 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than previously built stores.

Slag cement is an integral component of the concrete in both centers and the Slag Cement Association (SCA) recognized Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sustainable efforts by giving the projects the SCA 2006 Best Use-Sustainability award.

Slag cement, a byproduct of the steel industry, was one of more than 60 environmentally friendly materials used in building the stores. Using slag cement keeps materials from landfills, reduces virgin material use, enhances air quality and reduces energy consumption by replacing other higher-impact materials. Slag cement also adds beneficial properties to concrete including a smoother surface and lighter color.

In the Wal-Mart stores, concrete was specified in parking areas to increase reflectivity and enhance durability. Slag cement in binary and ternary mixtures was used in some parking areas, replacing up to 50% of the portland cement, to enhance recycled content. Lightening the color by adding slag cement helps reduce the "heat island" effect because light-colored pavement keeps surrounding air temperatures lower than with dark-colored alternatives.

Both stores include other energy conservation and sustainable design measures. These include supplementing electric power with wind and solar power and using a combination of waste cooking oil used automotive oil to heat the buildings with special waste oil heating units.

In addition to the solar, wind and waste oil measures, the stores feature porous pavements, radiant floor heating, and unique, energy efficient fabric duct air dispersion systems in building heating and cooling systems. The concrete foundation in the Aurora, CO store also included 518 tons of recycled pavement material from Denver’s Stapleton Airport runway.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has pledged to make research gleaned from these stores available to all companies and organizations who might benefit from it and hopes to encourage others to create more retail centers that save energy, conserve natural resources, and reduce pollution.

Project Team