By day, the sales area will be lit by natural light enhanced by 28 skylights specially glazed to block solar heat. Energy-efficient fixtures will provide lighting well below Washington State’s Energy Code, and timers and sensors have been installed to minimize usage of all store energy-consuming systems. Photo by Kevin Ray Smith.

PCC Natural Markets is the nation’s largest co-operatively owned grocery store chain, with eight neighborhood stores in the greater Seattle area. During the past 14 years, PCC’s green building program has progressed from experimenting with green finish materials in a 600-square-foot classroom to building the first LEED Gold grocery store. Lori Ross, PCC’s director of store development, explains “building green goes hand-in-hand with PCC’s natural foods product line, and is a shared value with our customers.”

While some retailers build stand-alone buildings, most have to live in somebody else’s shell. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) recognizes the reduced control that tenants have on the green qualities of the building, which allowed PCC to attempt LEED certification for the first time. Because PCC had been implementing green strategies for more than a decade, attaining Gold came relatively easily. Even so, LEED proved to be an effective incentive to implement a few green methods that the company had not tried before, such as a whole building energy simulation, third-party commissioning, and measurement and verification.

Many of the recommendations of the energy simulation modeled in the design phase were implemented, but only after lengthy debate among the owner, engineers, and contractors. For example, the refrigeration system pressure was intentionally set higher than normal in order to optimize heat recovery to the HVAC system efficiency. Three trades with separate subcontracts had to share controls and combine responsibility for keeping the food cold, the water hot, and the store warm.

Major involvement by the commissioning agent got the integrated system humming. Jon Heller of Ecotope points out that “it took a year’s worth of bills and data collection to figure out that the gas use was too high, and why.” The fix saved about $21,000 per year in gas usage for the HVAC system.

Grocery stores are one big refrigerator, keeping the food cold every second of the day. The waste product is heat, which for decades was vented to the sky. More recently, grocery stores have begun capturing that heat in a water storage tank to meet the significant demands of water heating. This project also piped the refrigeration system loop directly through a condensing coil in the main air handler to supply space heating, integrating the refrigeration and HVAC systems.

“In the context of both climate change and LEED, it was clear to the design team that our green focus should be on energy,” said Tom Harrylock of HV Engineering. By doing so, the project earned all 12 Energy and Atmosphere credits.

General Contractor’s Role is Critical

The store’s space heating, hot water heating, and refrigeration systems have been designed so that they are interconnected, making it possible for the refrigeration system’s waste heat to be utilized by the other systems. Photo by Kevin Ray Smith.

The general contractor was brought to the project for its expertise in grocery stores, not its green resume. The GC was initially skeptical of LEED, and its first budget was presented to the client with all the green features listed as “extras.” The owner calmly explained that specifying recycled-content tile, FSC-certified wood, low-toxin paint and energy-efficient lighting, and source-separated construction waste were standard procedures for PCC. From that point on, the contractor embraced the green program wholeheartedly. It diverted 77 percent by weight of the construction waste, sourced 42 percent by cost of the construction materials within 500 miles of the site, procured 31 percent LEED recycled content materials, wrote and followed a construction IAQ plan to the letter, and documented everything thoroughly, garnering two Innovation in Design credits for exemplary performance.

A few weeks into procurement, the superintendent announced that, “all the green products that the architect specified are indeed available.” Casual chats with the tradesmen in the field revealed that the low-toxic products worked just as well as the normal stuff. Perhaps the most difficult habit to change was getting 100 percent of the numerous workers to leave their favorite tube of high-VOC goop in the truck. Spot raids by the architect helped impress the importance of this requirement. The contractors who worked on this LEED project then carried the methods learned to other projects and clients, proving LEED’s ripple effect.

The tenant was able to make one important change to the building shell. Installing 28 skylights in the roof enabled the sales area to be fully daylit. The daylight distinguishes PCC from big box grocery stores and illuminates the natural beauty of the food product. Photocell controls progressively turn off all of the ambient lighting as the sun rises each morning. By daylight alone, customers can see and read any product label with ease. But if you walk into the store, you will notice that the accent lighting, which amounts to about half the installed wattage, remains on even in full daylight. Daylighting levels suitable for office environments (daylight factor of 2) do not translate well to retail stores. In order not to look lifeless or dull, retail demands sparkle on the face of the product, which only electric accent lighting can provide.

PCC’s future plans

All building products were selected for low VOCs. All office furniture, tables, and outdoor seating have been obtained from re-use sources, and cabinetry throughout the entire store is made of Skyblend, a 100 percent recycled material. Photo courtesy of VELOCIPEDE Architects.

As of press time, the project team is part way through construction on the next PCC Natural Market, in Edmonds, Wash. All the features that were successful at the Redmond store will be implemented at Edmonds, but to a higher level because the team is targeting a Platinum rating under the LEED-CI Retail Pilot. Additionally, PCC will install a rainwater collection system for the first time for flushing toilets and irrigating. With each new store, PCC raises the bar a little higher toward its goal of building a truly sustainable grocery.

Sidebar: Bringing Green to Market

PCC NATURAL MARKET
Location: Redmond, Wash.
Size: 23,382 square feet
LEED Certification: Gold, under LEED-CI 2.0

PROJECT TEAM
Client: PCC Natural Markets, Seattle
Architect: VELOCIPEDE architects,
Seattle ( www.velocipede.net )
Contractor: Woodman Construction, Bellevue, Wash.
Mechanical Engineer: HV Engineering, Seattle
Energy Modeling and Commissioning: Ecotope, Seattle

MATERIAL SOURCES
Air handler: Trane
Cabinet panels: Skyblend
DDC system: Com-Trol
Light fixtures: Lightolier, Juno, Delray
Paint: Rodda
Plumbing fixtures: TOTO
Recycled ceramic tile: Fireclay
Recycled glass tile: Bedrock Industries
Refrigeration equipment: Hussmann
Skylights: Bristolite