Ikea expands solar installations in the U.S.
- Ikea U.S. announce two sustainability initiatives.
- Ikea will continue a solar installation project that will add solar car parks, additional rooftop solar panels and battery energy storage systems to seven Ikea units across the country.
- The international retailer will conduct a renewable heating and cooling project to replace and optimize existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems starting with five stores.
Ikea U.S. announce two sustainability initiatives – a solar installation project that will add solar car parks, additional rooftop solar panels and battery energy storage systems to seven Ikea units across the country, and a renewable heating and cooling project (RHC) to replace and optimize existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems starting with five stores in 2023.
“We are taking bold steps to reduce our climate footprint in the U.S. and become a climate positive business by 2030,” said Mardi Ditze, country sustainability manager, Ikea U.S., in a press release. “The solar project aligns with our goal of being powered by 100% renewable energy, while the renewable heating and cooling project works toward increased energy efficiency and the goal of eliminating fossil fuels from our operations by 80% by 2030.”
This is the second phase of the solar installation project, and the seven units include Ikea Brooklyn, New York; Covina, California; New Haven, Connecticut; Paramus, New Jersey; Stoughton, Massachusetts; Tempe, Arizona; and the IKEA fulfillment facility in Tejon, California. Ikea in Paramus, New Jersey, was the first to have mechanical completion in July 2023 and features the retailer’s first-ever long-span carpark system that maximizes the number of solar panels and covers the entire parking deck roof.
Two other locations are also on track to be completed in 2023 — Ikea Covina and Tejon fulfillment facility — and the four remaining — Ikea Brooklyn, New Haven, Stoughton and Tempe — in 2024. When all seven units are operational, they will collectively provide 13,600 megawatt hours of yearly production, the equivalent of offsetting 5,883 tons of carbon that would have entered the atmosphere, Ikea said.
The RHC project will replace and optimize the existing HVAC equipment with new centralized systems with high-energy efficiency and coefficient performance at five locations in 2023 including IkeaCanton, Michigan; Draper, Utah; Orlando, Florida; Round Rock, Texas and Tampa, Florida. It’s a four-stage project done while stores remain open and will take roughly a year to complete, the retailer said.
“At Ikea, we are driven by a vision to create a positive impact on the environment while delivering innovative and sustainable solutions to our customers,” said Adrian Avino, Ikea U.S. engineer. “Our RHC projects are a crucial part of our Real Estate contribution to building decarbonization and increased energy efficiency. This year is only the beginning as we have a roadmap in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% across our operations by 2030.”
Ikea has long been committed to investing in renewable energy to meet its sustainability goal of becoming climate positive by 2030. In the U.S., the retailer currently owns more than 250,000 solar panels across 90% of its locations, two geothermal properties, seven fuel cell arrays and two wind farms which produce more renewable energy than the amount of energy used at its U.S. locations.
Ikea operates 375 stores in 30 countries, including 52 retail locations in the U.S. In August, Ikea opened its newest location in San Francisco at 945 Market Street. The city-format store will be part of a new meeting place from Ingka Centres, a global developer and operator of retail-led destinations which is part of Ingka Group, one of the groups that owns Ikea. As the anchor for the new meeting place, Ikea San Francisco is the first retail space to open in the building.