Sustainability

Ace Hardware has saved an average of 81% on lighting-related energy use in its 1 million-sq.-ft. retail support center in Rocklin, California, since implementing a LED upgrade.

The upgrade, completed in October 2013, involved replacing 1,551 T5 fluorescent and 102 metal halide lamps with an intelligent LED system from Digital Lumens.

On July 1, 2014, recent updates to the 2013 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards — Title 24 — went into effect.

The new, tougher standards are estimated to increase energy efficiency by 30% in non-residential buildings compared with the 2008 version.

Defining the scope of a CFO’s oversight is challenging because it’s still evolving. Besides the overarching responsibility of overseeing and reporting finances, the role now often includes strategic planning, technology and investor relations.

New areas of reporting, including corporate social responsibility and environmental performance, are also being added.

Strategist, adviser, communicator, futurist: Retail chief financial officers have seen their role broaden so much in recent years that, in some cases, they have become virtual partners with the CEO. Once responsible primarily for financial stewardship, the CFO is embracing a growing number of additional roles encompassing strategic planning, technology and perhaps even a bit of crystal ball gazing.

Dallas – The Container Store has hired Pete Lodwick as VP and general counsel. Lodwick will lead both internal and external teams responsible for legal strategy, regulatory affairs, and corporate compliance.

Prior to joining The Container Store, Lodwick practiced for 34 years at the Dallas-based law firm Thompson & Knight in the corporate and securities department.

Coach has announced that executive chairman Lew Frankfort plans to retire upon his term’s expiration. He will not stand for re-election to the board at the company’s annual meeting of stockholders in November.

The company intends to bestow upon him the honorary title of chairman emeritus at that time.

Seattle -- REI will open a nearly 30,000-sq.-ft., two-level store in the Village at Westfield Topanga, Woodland Hills, California, in fall 2015.

"REI Topanga will join five other stores in serving more than 352,000 active REI members in the greater Los Angeles area. More than 62,000 active members reside within 15 miles of the new store.

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group has been recognized by the CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) and The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) for its ongoing leadership and commitment to sustainability and energy conservation.

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and global sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future have launched a project to empower sustainability initiatives, Retail Horizons. The project is being launched ahead of the RILA 2014 Retail Sustainability Conference held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, in Minneapolis. Click here for a two-minute video on the program.  

Arlington, Va. -- Pentagon Row, the outdoor shopping and residential center in Pentagon City, Virginia, has installed nearly 2,000 parking space sensors. The sensors, which are located in each of the facility’s parking spaces, record whether a space is occupied, forwarding that information to illuminated signs and the Pentagon Row mobile parking app which direct parkers to the closest available spaces to their final shopping destination.