M&S’ greenest store to use 30% less water

Marks and Spencer's recently opened Cheshire Oaks store will use 30% less mains water through sustainable practices, compared with a conventional same sized store, says the company.


The water reduction will come from harvested rainwater that will supply the toilets and irrigate the store’s ‘living green wall’, which displays plants and encourages wildlife.

The supermarket chain claims that the new store, which opened on August 29, is the greenest ever and has been built with the latest in sustainable building technologies and practices.

Along with a reduction in water usage, the store will also be the most operationally carbon efficient store to date. The company said it will be 35% more carbon efficient and 30% more energy efficient than a similarly-sized store.

Up to 70% of the store’s heating will be provided via heat reclamation and a biomass boiler, which uses agricultural, forest, urban and industrial residues and waste to produce heat.

Other environmental benefits include two electric car charging points available in the car park and the use of environmentally friendly material instead of steel, which uses far more energy in the manufacturing process, for its roof and first floor.

At the store opening, chief executive of Marks and Spencer, Marc Bolland said: “This is our greenest ever M&S store and we call it a ‘sustainable learning store’ as around 60% of the eco features featured in Cheshire Oaks will become standard spec for M&S stores.”

The store opening follows comments from Marks and Spencer head of sustainable business, Mike Barry, who told edie in July that UK businesses need to move away from the softly, softly approach to sustainability and start putting resources into “radical changes”.

Barry said the positive changes made by businesses to date are all well and good, but “sustainability demands disruption [and] any business that doesn’t radically re-invent itself will not have a business in 20 years’ time”.

Leigh Stringer

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