Elm City Market basedin New Haven, CT opened its doors to the public this month. Elm City is a member-owned market that has apassion for local and regional products. The Market was designedwith a mission of creating a highly-efficient,sustainable and healthy grocery store for years to come. The decision to go green was based on ahealthy, efficient store creates an ideal environment for members, shoppers,employees and most importantly, the produce and products contained within. The end result has been beautifully executed,contributing to the first LEED® ND Platinum certified project in the country. Throughout construction, nearly 90% of allwaste was diverted from landfills by recycling waste. The majority of equipment within the store islocal, recycled and refurbished to meet the Market’s quality and energyefficiency standards.The store has been designed to harbor a strong connectionbetween the indoor and outdoor spaces, encouraging the market and patrons toexpand outdoors, engaging the neighborhood with access from three streets,outdoor café seating, outdoor produce and merchandising.
Finishes are low-VOC, formaldehyde-free, recycled andrenewable and sourced locally where possible. One such feature element is reclaimedBerkshire barn wood utilized for checkout stands, display cases, accent ceilingwork and signage backdrops. An abundanceof natural light fills the store while not increasing heat through ahigh-performance window wall system. Thissaves on lighting and cooling energy, while also creating a vibrant streetscapefor pedestrians.
The electricity, heat and hot water to the store will beprovided by renewable energy via an on-site 400 KW
fuel cell, increasing the store’s delivered energyefficiency from the standard 30% from grid power to 90%. The refrigeration systems within the Marketare of the highest efficiency possible and selected for their ongoing greenoperation. The refrigeration equipmentis 30% more efficient than standard, a huge energy saver considering a grocerymarket typically expends 60% of its total energy on refrigeration. The refrigeration equipment will tie directlyinto an energy recovery system, allowing all waste heat to be re-used withinthe building, not exhausted to the atmosphere. Additionally the refrigerant from the systemis re-used to preheat the domestic hot water for the Market. Both measures lower the store’s need fornatural gas heating. The back-up heater is a 96% efficient condensing gas waterheater.
The kitchen exhaust air ties directly into an energyrecovery wheel, allowing the same air for exhaust to be used for the Market’sventilation. Exhaust and ventilationare controlled via a three zone variable volume system connected to CO2 andtemperature sensors, so the system is only run when necessary. The Market’s high-efficiency water sourceheat-pumps use approximately 30% less energy for cooling compared to thestandard split system design.
Lighting controls modulate light output in stages usingphoto-eyes located in zones throughout the entire Market. The abundance ofnatural light in the store during the day will allow the Market to save onlighting energy. The lighting systems are also fully dimmable and controlled byoccupancy sensors. Track lightingthroughout the store is LED. Additionally all refrigerated cases are lit viaLEDs, saving lighting and cooling energy.
The market installed the IBM SurePOS 300 Cash Registers fromSTCR. IBM’s planet-friendly technology savespower, lowers heat and reduces noise while increasing reliability.