Sustainable design principles and applications in retail spaces

This essay is on Sustainable design within retail spaces store design (including the physical space of the store, as well as the merchandising fixtures, and products).  This paper will explore some different brands that utilize this sustainable design concept.

Introduction & Defining the Concept

The concept of sustainability is, for the most part, in the eye of the beholder.  In theory, sustainability reflects consumption that can be sustained indefinitely, implying that no non-renewable resources are used.  In practice, the term sustainable is applied more broadly along a spectrum where the actual amount of sustainability in the subject is moderate to high, though usually not total.  As applied to design, the concept of sustainability is focused on using a variety of tools, techniques, and designs that are sustainable.  It is rare that a building will be 100% sustainable, but concepts that contribute to sustainability have become the leading trend in building design in recent years.  It is taught in colleges, has become a specialized field within both architecture and retail design, and has received an inordinate amount of press.  Ultimately, the word sustainable is applied somewhat loosely, as long as the design incorporates several aspects of sustainability.

The concept of sustainability, as applied to design, encompasses several different features:  building components, finishes and furnishings, environmental quality, lighting and electrical systems, and regulations (Winchip, 2011).  Each of these factors needs to be taken into account when designing a sustainable building , living space or retail space.  Thus, each of these concepts will be analyzed in turn, to outline what sustainable design for retail looks like, and to trace its development.  This is a new field, as the definition of sustainable design was not fully codified until 2002, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.  First, sustainable design was defined as specifically differentiated from traditional design.  Second, the protection and management of natural resources is seen as the basis for economic and social development, and third, that health is a key element of sustainable design (Winchip, 2011).

Sustainable Design in Retail

Retail is the public face of a corporation, where it interacts with its customers.  Thus, retail spaces are perhaps the best opportunity to demonstrate a company's commitment to sustainably and the values that it embodies.  A sustainable corporate headquarters might be worth an article in the newspaper, but sustainable retail design is seen every day, by all of the company's customers and even its potential customers.  From a marketing perspective alone, there is a strong case for the development of sustainable retail spaces.  And so it has become that sustainable design has become a hallmark of the modern retail environment. 

There are several reasons why sustainable design in retail engenders consumer response.  First, sustainable design elements are often more aesthetically pleasing – in particular the use of design elements such as wood, stone and natural lighting.  The warmth of these materials and of natural light contrasts with non-sustainable artificial materials and harsh lighting.  Furthermore, the collaborative approach of sustainable design results in overall better design.  The higher degree of creativity and innovation in the retail space is also aesthetically superior, on average, than the mail-in presentation of many traditional, non-sustainable retail spaces.  

Beyond aesthetics, however, are psychological justifications for sustainable retail's rapid rise in popularity.  One driver of consumption is brand identification, where consumers want to identify with specific brands, based on the values that they associate with those brands.  When a brand features sustainable retail design, that becomes one of these values.  While sustainability is only a purchasing criteria in around 15% of consumers, many more are influenced by the desire to be seen as supporting sustainability.  This may be a matter of assuaging guilt over the hopeless unsustainable lifestyles most of us live, but the rationale is not really that important.  What is important is that people have a preference to identify with the ideals of the sustainability movement, and therefore exhibit more positive feelings and purchase intentions, regardless of their actual purchase actions, towards retailers that have adopted sustainability as part of their brand identity (Ogle, Hyllegard & Dunbar, 2004).  As the desire among consumers to adopt sustainability as part of their own identities – again regardless of their actions – this intent is reflected back in the desire of businesses to present consumers with the sustainable retail spaces that they desire.

Elements of Sustainable Retail Design: Physical Structure

The first element of sustainable retail design is the physical structure.  Remember that sustainable design is an integrative process – the physical building cannot be separated from the other sustainability elements.  Materials are a key element of sustainability in buildings, and thus the life cycle of materials needs  to be given consideration.  The life cycle generally consists of extraction of raw materials, refining the raw materials, manufacturing, use and disposal.  For a building, the key components of this are the first two – what is the building made of?  This is one of the areas where sustainable design lends itself to flexibility. Classic materials for building construction – rebar and concrete – are technically finite resources, but they are also ones in incredible abundance.  However, there are environmental effects to materials such as cement and the steel-making process for rebar.  Concrete contributes to the heat island effect and to excess water runoff.  Therefore, if such materials are used, solutions must be found for these issues.  Some solutions have included green roofs to reduce the heat island effect and the ability to collect water runoff from the building, recycling that water back into the building's plumbing systems.  Mitigating negative effects is one of the tenets of sustainability.  

Many building materials, including metal and concrete, can be recycled.  Materials efficiency is also achieved by using natural materials, such as wood from certified sustainable forests, and natural stone, in addition to renewable materials such as bamboo, as well as recycled materials.  Recycled copper is often used as a material in sustainable building as well.  Paneling can be created from any number of organic materials, in place of traditional wood, though the latter is used when it comes from sustainable forests.  Another aspect is the re-use of historic buildings, some of which are repurposed, including buildings that may have spent time unoccupied until they were taken over as retail spaces (Plevoets & Van Cleempoel, 2012).

While there are a number of sustainable building materials available, it should be noted that many sustainable retail spaces trumpet the sustainability of their systems – heat, water and energy – rather than the raw materials used in the framework of the building, and that consumers have little way of understanding or verifying the sustainability of the building itself, in the absence of established standards (Contreras, Roth & Lewis, 2011).    

Elements of Sustainable Retail Design:  Finishes and Furnishings

While the structure of the building is often given less attention, certainly by the retail consumer, finishes and furnishings are highly visible representations of sustainability in a retail space.  Thus, they have been given significant attention to retail designers.  As with other physical features of sustainable, the concept of the life cycle assessment (LCA) drives sustainable retail design for finishes and furnishings.  Materials are typically sourced from sustainable sources, including emphasis on recycled materials.  The natural environment is often emphasized, a trend particularly in vogue in urban environments, where there is tremendous appeal among consumers for designs that reference the nature such consumers are often too-far removed from (Farr, 2008).

The popularity of recycled and natural finishes and furnishings goes beyond the appeal of the natural, however.  As with other elements of sustainable design, these elements allow for greater creativity, and it is this creativity that in part has driven the industry's growth; sustainable design represents a challenge for designers that requires them to flex their creative muscles.  It also ties into the need for more artisan goods, something driven by consumer demand.

Elements of Sustainable Retail Design:  Water, Heat, Light

One of the least sustainable aspects of 20th-century architecture is the overreliance of unsustainable power systems.  The natural environments of the pre-industrial age were replaced with wholly artificial environments, where designers built buildings and spaces where humans controlled every aspect.  Artificial lighting, air conditioning, heating systems and water tanked in from somewhere else all represent the traditional ideals that sustainable design rejects.  Sustainable design in the retail setting therefore places special emphasis on these elements.  

Natural lighting is a centrepiece of sustainable design, especially for retail since most retail outlets operate primarily in the daylight hours.  The use of natural lighting not only provides greater warmth to the space, but saves money,  so it is financially appealing in addition to being sustainable and having aesthetic appeal.  Natural lighting is, however, a relatively low-hanging fruit is sustainable design.  While is serves to help minimize the use of electricity, other elements have been incorporated to reduce the resource footprint of sustainable retail spaces.  Solar panels can help provide power, and while retail spaces will generally still need some power, there are other strategies employed to reduce power requirements.

Heating and air conditioning are two elements that should be reduced in sustainable resource design.  Efficiency  is an important concept here, because in many parts of the world the climate is not particularly conducive to a fully sustainable heating/cooling environment.  This is where the integrated nature of sustainable design comes into play, because construction materials play a significant role in the ability of a space to regulate heat.  While this aspect of sustainable design can be quite technical, it is important to realize the critical role that building shape, air flow, windows, and construction materials all play in creating a stable temperature environment within the retail space, while minimizing the need to draw power from non-sustainable public utilities (Kreider, Curtiss & Rabl, 2010).  

Water systems more easily and directly reflect the principles of LCA. Not all water sources are sustainable – many parts of the world are draining groundwater resources that take millions of years to replenish, meaning that they are categorically unsustainable. Further, conventional water systems are hopelessly inefficient.  Water is only used once, and potable water is used for non-drinking applications – there is nothing sustainable about using forty gallons of fresh drinking water to flush a toilet.  Water can be collected and re-used multiple times, and it is this re-use that characterizes sustainable design with respect to water resources.  Rain water collection, and internal systems within the building to recycle waste water for applications where grey water is acceptable for use are factors that need to be taken into account.

Retail-Specific Issues

Sustainability as a concept has been applied to just about every type of space, from living to industrial.  But retail spaces have their own unique characteristics that need to be taken into account. Where living and industrial spaces can emphasize a balance between sustainability and function, in retail the aesthetics are also important, and functionality looks a little bit different as well.  The principle objective of retail design is to maximize sales.  Design elements must consider things like minimizing theft, product placement/merchandising within the store, and the attractiveness of the displays.  The store design should influence shopping behaviour in a way that increases sales (Turley & Chabat, 2002).  It has been noted above that the use of sustainable materials and natural lighting often creates a warmer feeling, and there is a sense that among consumers who value natural elements that this can increase sales (Ogle, Hyllegard & Dunbar, 2004).  However, there has been little study specifically linking sustainable designs and retail behaviours.  Retail design is the basis of the store design, and then the elements utilized are sustainable in nature.  That said, the natural flow of a store designed sustainably may be significantly different from the design of a traditionally-designed store, because the building itself is substantially different.  

Regulations

As an emerging field, there is little in the way of regulations governing when a building or retail space is considered to be sustainable.  Companies sometimes claim sustainability on rather spurious grounds, paving the way for dilution of the term and for consumer confusion, both of which are to the detriment of the sustainability movement.  One of the earlier codes for green building was LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a certification program that awards buildings and spaces that emphasize various elements of sustainability.  This program has been highly influential in the development of best practices, many of which are routinely incorporated into sustainable retail design. LEED certification covers building materials, indoor environmental quality, water efficiency and electricity usage.  There is a specific set of LEED certifications for retail spaces, and research has showed that eco-certified buildings have exhibited growth rates in line with other innovative products, which tend to grow at a faster rate than more established products, or in this case retail designs. Retail spaces with different eco-certifications remained popular during the economic downturn in many parts of the world, indicating the strength of the trend, and that many proponents do not see added cost to sustainable design (Fuerst, 2009).

Further Research 

Since there has been limited research on the impact of sustainability on retail design, this opens up the field to multiple areas of future exploration. While many of the traits of sustainable design are understood, studies could be conducted to investigate how these elements affect consumers.  These elements are intended to co-exist with conventional philosophies of retail design intended to drive revenues, and it is worth investigating the revenue effects of sustainable retail design.  Furthermore, as Nidumolu (2009) noted, the retail space is an important area for the creation and reinforcement of brand identity.  Because of that, it is important for retail design to appropriately convey attitudes about sustainability that will be attached to the corporate brand identity, and to make consumers want to associate themselves with that brand as an extension of their own self-identification.

Conclusion

Within the past ten years, sustainability has become one of the most important trends in retail design.  While adhering to the basic principles of retail design, including the emphasis on generating sales revenue, this category has emerged as popular because of consumer sentiment, in particular the need to identify with positive brand traits.  Further, as the field of sustainable design grows, the knowledge base becomes higher and the costs decline, lowering transaction costs for the adoption of sustainable technologies and concepts.  In the retail environment, the aesthetics of sustainable design elements – natural and recycled materials, natural lighting in particular – are currently favoured by consumers as a reaction to the artificial environments more typically favoured in the 20th century.  The specific business case for sustainable retail design has not been made in the research at this point, but there is reason to believe that sustainable retail design will continue to emerge as a field, where the retail design elements become more cohesively integrated with the sustainability elements. 

References

Contreras, J., Roth, H. & Lewis, M. (2011).  Toward a rational framework for sustainable building materials standards.  Standards Engineering. Vol. 63 (5)

Farr, D. (2008).  Sustainable Urbanism.  Wiley.

Fuerst, F. (2009).  Building momentum:  An analysis of investment trends in LEED and Energy Star-certified properties.  Journal of Retail and Leisure Property. Vol. 8 (2009) 285-297.

Kreider, J., Curtiss, P. & Rabl, A. (2010).  Heating and Cooling of Buildings:  Design for Efficiency. Taylor & Francis:  Boca Raton, FL.

Krygiel, E. & Nies, B. (2008).  Green BIM:  Successful Sustainable Design with Building Information Modeling.  Wiley:  Indianapolis

Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. & Rangaswami, M. (2009). Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation.  Harvard Business Review.  Retrieved March 10, 2015 from https://hbr.org/2009/09/why-sustainability-is-now-the-key-driver-of-innovation

Ogle, J., Hyllegard, K. & Dunbar, B. (2004).  Predicting patronage behaviors in a sustainable retail environment.  Environment and Behavior.  Vol. 36 (5) 717-741.

Plevoets, B. & Van Cleempoel, K. (2012).  Creating sustainable retail interiors through the reuse of historic buildings.  Interiors:  Design, Architecture, Culture. Vol. 3 (3) 271-293.

Turley, L. & Chabat, J. (2002).  Linking retail strategy, atmospheric design and shopping behaviour.  Journal of Marketing Management.  Vol. 18 (1-2) 125-144.

Winchip, S. (2011). Sustainable Design for Interior Environments, 2nd Edition.  Fairchild Books: New York.