For some convenience stores, the prospect of shifting operations to prioritize sustainability may be a daunting one; retailers are leery of disrupting the flow of their standard practices or shouldering additional costs, and rightly so. Some strategies, though, can be as beneficial to retailers’ margins as they are to the environment—and reducing energy consumption is a prime example.
According to NACS’ Green Toolkit report, at least 70% of consumers are concerned about the effects of climate change and are thus interested in sustainable technologies. In addition, excess energy consumption—especially for retailers operating 24/7—can increase costs and undercut margins. Among NACS’ recommendations for c-stores assessing storewide energy consumption and waste is a crucial first step; to decide where to conserve energy, retailers must first understand how their stores consume it.
The U.S. Department of Energy takes a similar approach in its recommendations for convenience stores, which largely revolve around monitoring and maintenance. Checking thermostat settings, electrical connections, heating and cooling units and more should all be part of a typical maintenance checkup.
Just like any other facet of store operations, keeping a close eye on energy consumption and equipment performance requires time and attention. As consumers resuming their commutes to work are likely to increase foot traffic, finding solutions to keep energy costs in check is an especially pressing matter. How can retailers cater to the consumer call for sustainability and maximize margins while continuing to provide quality service in the busy days ahead?
Solutions that simplify
The Honeywell Small and Medium Building Administrator powered by Honeywell Forge streamlines energy and equipment management to offer key analytics, insights and alerts at a glance. The solution enables even small, centralized c-store teams to monitor refrigeration, HVAC, lighting systems and other key assets across multiple sites—helping to reduce facility energy costs by as much as 30%, according to a report from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Honeywell’s scalable system uses wireless sensors to report equipment statuses and temperatures to the cloud in real time—helping to prevent costly issues with predictive alerts that allow retailers to stop malfunctions before they happen.
There’s no better time to optimize energy consumption, maximize margins and meet sustainability goals, and the Honeywell Small and Medium Building Administrator is an affordable, reliable solution. To learn more, visit www.honeywell.com.
This post is sponsored by Honeywell