As reported by Steve Kaufman in VMSD, North Face recently opened a LEED Gold certified store in an old department store in downtown Boise, ID. “We’re not one of those retailers that opens 50 stores a year,” Rice says. “We now have just 26 stores, built over 40 years. We choose our locations carefully and each one has to represent the values of the brand. And we feel this Boise store – with its reuse of an old building and our first attempt at LEED certification – tells exactly The North Face story that we try to tell every time out.”
Boise is one of the fastest growing markets for outdoor activities - hiking, skiing, climbing and has a large youth market on campus at Boise State. The building was home to the flagship Mode Department Store from 1909 to the 1980's and so has high recognition and sentimental value in the market.
The building lended itself nicely to environmentally friendly renovation, providing interesting architectural elements and reusable materials. A series of windows allowed for daylight and passive solar.
Other Leed items include: "Elsewhere, JGA and The North Face crossed all of LEED’s t’s. The building exterior is painted (with low-VOC and low-odor paint) a rustic version of The North Face red to blend in with the surrounding buildings. Powdercoated fixtures (as well as backroom shelving) are made of the renewable bamboo plywood called Plyboo. Feature walls use wood manufactured under sustainable forestry guidelines. The cashwrap and backwrap are built from SkyBlend, a wood particleboard made of 100 percent recycled wood fiber without added formaldehyde. Hardwood flooring is produced from sustainable forestry without insecticides or laminated adhesives. Vinyl flooring is made with recycled content and installed with low-VOC adhesive. And the carpeting is a hybrid yarn that uses renewable fiber from corn starch, installed using a glue-free installation system."
North Face puts the money where there mouth is;)
--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh, Renew
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8 comments:
I was very interested in reading this post. It is so great that companies such as North Face, that are so popular among today's youth, are doing so much to be "green". I was especially interested in the part about the environmentally-friendly renovations. For the carpet, the post stated they used a "hybrid yarn", and that makes me wonder if that same yarn, or some lighter blend, could be used to create apparel. Does North Face use environmentally friendly materials to create their clothes? All in all, it's wonderful that they are paying close attention to the environment. Maybe it's the first of many companies to take such a eco-friendly route. :)
This post also made me wonder if North Face uses environmentally friendly materials to produce their clothes as well as their stores. I went to the website and found that in fact, they do at least for some aspects of certain articles of clothing. Two "green" technologies they use include
Carbon From Bamboo as well as
Polartec Eco-Engineering. The carbon from bamboo uses kiln- dried bamboo that is ground down into a powder and then blended to form fibers. This provides sweat wicking, odor absorption as well as UV protection to the clothing. The Polartec Eco-Engineering uses recycled material made from "90 percent post-industrial waste and 10 percent post-consumer waste, stopping the flow of materials to the landfill and creating valuable materials from waste". I hope more clothing companies follow suit!
I was pleased to read this post cause it made me happy to know that more big name companies, such as North Face, are doing more to go green. The different materials that they are using such as the Plyboo and the hybrid yarns are a good way to renovate. If they are going green with the store layout, could it be possible that they will be going green with the making of their clothes. Maybe use some of the hybrid yarn for their jackets or recycled plastic for the zippers. Is it also possible that other companies will catch on and start doing the same things for their storea.
As like everyone has said before me, it is really great that North Face, a major brand in sportswear, is getting on the bandwagon with being green. I wasn't aware that even reusing buildings was a part of being LEED certified. Just the thought of using an old building for their new store I think is pretty neat. I like how North Face was using environmentally friendly materials to renovate their new store as an extension of also having eco-friendly products. For examples check out: http://blog.planetshoes.com/wordpress/?p=145.
I also found it very interesting that North Face is reusing buildings and adding eco-friendly touches when remodeling their stores. With so many old, empty buildings out there, it is a great way to revitalize the space rather than building a completely new building that ruins available land. Hopefully North Face will also start taking into consideration using the same eco-friendly techniques when developing some of their products.
I love that a well-known company has taken the initiative to truly take the next step in going green. It made me think, however, that it would be even more interesting if a company attempted to use a majority of directly recycled materials for the interior of their store. For example, to use re-worked furniture, building scraps and other would-be garbage. I know that it would give an entirely different visual aesthetic to use such a large portion of directly recycled material, but I think that it would really allow the interior designers and merchandisers to really show their creativity and imagination in the layout of the store.
North Face is such a well known company, that other companies should want to jump on the green bandwagon with them. I never thought of renovating an older building, but whatever one can do to help preserve our planet go right ahead!! The "hybrid yarn" like everyone stated before was inspiring especially now that they use it in some of their clothing. Hopefully this will only be the beginning of them becoming a more eco-friendly brand.
The fact that North Face is doing so much to be "green" is fabulous. I feel like they are a huge influence in today's youth and even society as a whole. I see so many people wearing North Face all the time, I'm really glad to see them doing so much. Hopefully, they'll be able to influence people to be more "green" in their decisions.
Also, Plyboo is one of the best words I have ever heard in my entire life.
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