Brown Thomas Department Store – Sustainability Upgrades

Lawler Sustainability assisted Brown Thomas Department Store in identifying €1 million worth of energy savings across all nine Irish stores.

Reduced Brown Thomas’ Carbon Footprint by 256 Tonnes
€1 Million Worth of Energy Savings
Dublin, Ireland

LED Lighting Upgrade

Brown Thomas Department Store was among the first to venture into large-scale carbon reduction programmes in Ireland and with Lawler Sustainability’s help, has identified €1 million worth of energy savings across all nine Irish stores.

The biggest energy-saving upgrade took place at their flagship store on Dublin’s Grafton Street where our team led a substantial LED lighting upgrade.

We upgraded 8,500 lights over a one-year period, subsequently reducing the store’s carbon footprint by 256 tonnes and its energy usage by 480,000 kilowatts.

Once more, this upgrade is expected to slash Brown Thomas’ lighting energy costs to just a quarter of what it was before. This would see the project pay for itself in energy savings within two-and-a-half years.

As a result of these changes, Brown Thomas has also seen a positive shift in consumer attitudes towards their stores.

For many consumers, to see such goodwill and responsibility towards our environment is a key factor in their buying choices. Many consumers carry the level of guilt that businesses themselves do not when operating environmentally harmful businesses.

CSR Strategy

Lawler Sustainability also helped Brown Thomas develop a beyond-compliant sustainability strategy and achieve EXEED certification.

 

Comprehensive Carbon Roadmap

As part of their CSR strategy, Brown Thomas has committed to a carbon roadmap that will see them save approximately 3,000 tonnes of carbon.

Lawler Sustainability worked closely with its in-house sustainability team to analyse the brand’s energy usage, the efficiency of its mechanical and electrical systems, and its energy bills, before identifying opportunities for significant improvement.

From there, our team was able to devise an energy roadmap that provides Brown Thomas with a clear and easy-to-follow route to achieving its goal of saving around 3,000 tonnes of CO2.

Brown Thoma's carbon roadmap will see them save approximately 3,000 tonnes of carbon. Image: J.-H. Janßen, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Excellence in Energy Efficiency Design (EXEED)

Our work with Brown Thomas also extended to us helping the brand achieve EXEED certification at four city centre stores.

The Excellence in Energy Efficiency Design (EXEED) is a certified programme by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) which provides a framework to help organisations to design, construct, and commission processes for new builds and upgrades to existing assets following the new best practices in energy efficient design management.

Lawler Sustainability acted as the Energy Efficient Design (EED)’ expert supporting Brown Thomas’ application for EXEED certification.

This support from the SEAI will help to further strengthen Brown Thomas’ carbon reduction programme and CSR strategy.

 

SI 426 Compliance

Lawler Sustainability also completed an energy audit of the Brown Thomas stores throughout Ireland as part of SI 426 compliance along with the development of a register of opportunities.

This SI 426 audit identified energy-saving opportunities that would result in annual energy cost savings of €1 million resulting in a payback of just under three years.

A sustainable development strategy was developed for Brown Thomas which encompassed energy and water conservation, waste disposal & recycling, and renewable energy technologies.

Expert Advice

Speak to an expert today

Simply drop in your contact details and let us know a good time to reach you and one of our expert engineering team will call to discuss your needs and how we might be able to help

Speak to an Expert

Name(Required)
Trusted To Deliver
Proud to work with leading Irish and global brands

Kilkenny Office

Penthouse Office Suite,
11 Patrick Street, Kilkenny, R95 VNP4

Dublin Office

Citywest Business Centre,
3013 Lake Drive, Citywest, Dublin 24

London Office

Morrell House,
98 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3AF

Cork Office

Acorn Business Centre,
Blackrock, Cork. T12 K7CV