Walgreens to create net-zero energy store

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EVANSTON, Ill., March 8 (UPI) -- A Walgreens in Illinois aims be the nation's first "net-zero" energy retail store, producing energy equal to or greater than what it consumes, the company says.

The store set to open in Evanston, Ill., this year will use wind turbines, geothermal technology tapping energy sources 550 feet deep in the ground, LED lighting and ultra-high efficiency refrigeration, Walgreens said.

The store on the site of an existing Evanston location currently being demolished will utilize a number of green strategies, company executives said.

"We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and leading the retail industry in use of green technology," Thomas Connolly, Walgreen Co. vice president of facilities development, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We are investing in developing a net-zero store so we can learn the best way to bring these features to our other stores."

The store is to open in November and the company says it is committed to a chain-wide 20 percent energy reduction by 2020.

The Evanston site was chosen because is close to the company's corporate office in Deerfield, Ill., allowing close monitoring of the project, Walgreens said.