Kat Schon and Penney Stephenson of Portland Store Fixtures make a business of saving. They rescue used shelving, displays and other store fixtures from going to landfills and sell them at a fraction of what new pieces cost.
Energy savings is part of their business plan, too. Since the beginning, they’ve focused on cutting energy use and costs and being environmentally responsible.
Roughly half of their 16,500-square-foot building underwent a lighting upgrade about five years ago. The pair have also installed a programmable thermostat, replaced an old, inefficient refrigerator and installed energy-efficient windows.
In 2008, as part of its Save More, Matter More™ pledge, the company upgraded the lighting in the remaining half of the building, including “horrible, flickering” T12 fluorescent tube fixtures and metal halide lights, Schon says. With new high-performance T8 lighting and occupancy sensors the store is brighter, the merchandise looks better and the savings are noticeable.
Though motivated primarily by the environmental benefits, the two businesswomen agree that the financial benefits — from incentives to lower energy bills — are a nice bonus.
“It’s time we live in the environment and not on it,” Schon says. “The cool thing is, most of the things we do for the environment are really smart business moves in the first place.”
Real-life results at Portland Store Fixtures
Measures implemented
Estimated annual energy saving
- Projected at 5,342 kWh annually, or about $374
Benefits