Climate Change
Last updated: 09/05/2013
Zero-carbon stores
Our philosophy
Tesco has a long-term goal to become a zero carbon retailer by 2050 and our zerocarbon stores are one part of our plan to meet this goal.
These special stores use a mix of environmentally-friendly design, materials and
technologies. We ensure that all energy-consuming equipment, no matter how big or
small, is as efficient as possible – whether that be the refrigeration system or the hand
drier in the toilets.
Key features of our zero carbon stores
Heating and cooling: The heating and cooling system in our Ramsey zero-carbon
store uses 66% less energy than a typical store of a similar size. Some of the initiatives
that contribute to this include:

Natural ventilation – we blue shaded tubes, known as wind catchers, on the
roof of a store that let air flow in and out. They are designed to help us reduce
Page 1 of 4
For more information contact our corporate responsibility team - [email protected]
Tescois the UK’s largest retailer and one of the world’s leadinginternationalretailers.Tescohas over 6,500 stores worldwide,employingover 500,000 people.
Our core purpose is tomake what matters better,together.Our success depends on people:the people whoshop with us and the people whowork withus.
the need for air-conditioning by allowing natural air to flow in and out when
the outside temperature is in the right range. This reduces the need for extra
heating or cooling.

Lobby on the front of store – this helps to save energy by preventing heated air
escaping outside the store.
An engineer examines one of our wind catchers
Lighting: We use a range of different lighting technologies in our zero carbon stores.

Rooflights – there are large transparent panels in the roof that let natural light
into the store. These are filled with a special gel that prevents excessive heat
getting through. These help to enhance the shopping experience as well as
saving energy.

Efficient artificial lighting– we use highly efficient artificial lights where
needed, such as LEDs.

Sophisticated lighting control systems – These can automatically dim
individual lights when the natural daylight increases, can be linked to timers
and motion sensors to ensure that lights are not left on when they are not
needed
Page 2 of 4
For more information contact our corporate responsibility team - [email protected]
Tescois the UK’s largest retailer and one of the world’s leadinginternationalretailers.Tescohas over 6,500 stores worldwide,employingover 500,000 people.
Our core purpose is tomake what matters better,together.Our success depends on people:the people whoshop with us and the people whowork withus.

Sun pipes – these are mirrored tubes that reflect light into the store from light
that falls on the roof. We use these in the back of our stores and reduce the
need for artificial lighting.
Refrigeration
All the fridges and freezers in our zero carbon stores use natural refrigerants, such as
carbon dioxide. These natural alternatives are around 3,260 times less damaging to
the climate than the most common hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant that is used.
We also put doors on our fridges and freezers in store that reduce the energy lost from
the equipment, meaning that they use less overall.
Other features
The stores have a timber frame and are timber clad using wood from sustainable
sources. For every cubic metre of steel we replace with timber, we save almost a tonne
of carbon because timber is less energy intensive to produce.
Rainwater is collected and used to flush the toilets and in the car wash (if the store has
one).
Renewables
Even the most energy-efficient buildings need to use some energy. Our zero carbon
stores generate their own renewable energy on-site using sources including
photovoltaic (PV) roof panels and cladding, solar hot water generation, alternative
fuel combined heat and power (CHP) and ground-source heat pumps. Any excess
energy produced is sold back to the grid.
Page 3 of 4
For more information contact our corporate responsibility team - [email protected]
Tescois the UK’s largest retailer and one of the world’s leadinginternationalretailers.Tescohas over 6,500 stores worldwide,employingover 500,000 people.
Our core purpose is tomake what matters better,together.Our success depends on people:the people whoshop with us and the people whowork withus.
CHP plant
The CHP unit, pictured, is essentially a
mini power station and creates energy
to run the store. They are up to 35%
more efficient than traditional power
plant as they are able to trap heat that
would otherwise be lost in the process
of making electricity. We use
renewable biofuels, that meet strict
sustainability criteria, to run the plant.
Examples include used rapeseed and
fish oils from the UK and Ireland.
Results
We now have seven zero-carbon stores across the Group – four in the UK and one in
Ireland, Thailand and the Czech Republic. Beyond stores we also have a zero-carbon
training academy in South Korea.
The stores are all operating at a zero-carbon level, and some are generating excess
energy. For example in 2012/13, the four zero-carbon stores in the UK generated
nearly 7% more renewable energy than they required. We exported this excess
electricity to the national grid where it reduced the need to produce electricity from
fossil fuels, saving over 233,000kgCO2e.
Page 4 of 4
For more information contact our corporate responsibility team - [email protected]
Tescois the UK’s largest retailer and one of the world’s leadinginternationalretailers.Tescohas over 6,500 stores worldwide,employingover 500,000 people.
Our core purpose is tomake what matters better,together.Our success depends on people:the people whoshop with us and the people whowork withus.