Sustainable Grocery Store Energy Audits

A leading grocery store chain, committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, sought to reduce its carbon footprint through a comprehensive analysis of current energy use, on-site inspections of each store, and energy efficiency recommendations that align with the brand’s sustainability goals. With the goal of implementing energy-efficient solutions and driving substantial emission reductions across 38 stores in the United States, the chain requested proposals for conducting energy audits. The audits addressed:

1. Identifying actionable, scalable, and near-market-ready energy efficiency opportunities (including replacing fossil-fuel-based equipment) for each site.
2. Quantifying the financial impacts (first cost, operational cost reduction, and payback) for each opportunity.
3. Evaluating energy and carbon savings (Scope 1 and Scope 2).
4. Assessing potential impacts on key performance parameters such as required downtime, reliability, compatibility with existing systems, and customer experience.

BranchPattern's agile team structure allowed us to conduct on-site evaluations and simulate energy improvements across 38 stores in just six weeks to help our client achieve these ambitious objectives.

Our analytics team developed a streamlined approach to model the stores quickly, focusing on common elements and adapting them to individual locations. By prioritizing 16 key Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) based on energy, cost, and carbon savings potential, we tailored our recommendations to each store's unique needs.

Upon completion, we provided our client with ASHRAE Level 2 energy audit reports, adhering to ASHRAE Standard 211-2018 – Standard for Commercial Building Energy Audits. These reports included building decarbonization assessments and Audit Response Tables for each site, empowering the grocery chain to implement targeted measures that contribute to its net-zero emissions goal by 2040.