Our passion for the outdoors and responsibility to our stakeholders demand that we address one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time—climate change. Timberland aims to be part of the solution by reducing our energy demand, as well as procuring and investing in renewable energy. We define renewable energy as energy that is available from wind, solar, and small-scale hydropower sources.
Our goal is to help drive down energy demand for all facilities. One area of focus is our distribution centers, which are some of the largest facilities we operate around the world. Our first distribution center to source renewable energy is located in Enschede, Holland, which today gets 100% of its energy from wind power.
We have additional opportunity to purchase clean energy for our offices, showrooms, and retail stores—where the grid allows. Grid-renewable power from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland is more reliable than other locations, thanks to snow melt from the Alps, according to Alex Crawford, Timberland’s London-based European procurement manager. That power is run by cable to other countries in mainland Europe, such as Italy.
Crawford points out, however, that particular grid does not extend to island nations, like the United Kingdom, where Timberland’s European Headquarters (EHQ) is based. “We wanted to use renewable energy for a long time,” he explains, “but there wasn’t enough supply to meet the demand from businesses.”
Then, in 2010, the British government began investing heavily in renewable power, offering tax breaks and relaxing laws to encourage the creation of power from sources other than fossil fuel. “Power companies erected big wind farms out in the ocean off the coast of Britain, so within the last 18 months, the supply has increased dramatically,” Crawford says.
Timberland’s procurement and facilities teams in the U.K. jumped at the opportunity to support the company’s energy goals in their homeland. With the help of National Utility Services, an integrated energy solutions firm, we were able to consolidate energy suppliers, and now source energy from a single supplier for our EHQ location 20 miles west of London, and another supplier for all retail locations in the U.K. This consolidation has offered a financial benefit, as well as an environmental one: we can buy renewable energy in bulk, resulting in cost savings.
There was a certain amount of upheaval and expense in making the change, since all the meters needed to be replaced and a new reporting system had to be implemented to provide more accurate details about energy usage. Nevertheless, according to Crawford, as of August 1, 2011, nearly all of the energy used by Timberland in the U.K. is derived from renewable sources. “One of the great things about working for Timberland is that we always work as a team,” says Crawford. “Everybody pulled together to deliver this financially and environmentally beneficial result.”
Because of our focus on sourcing clean energy in Europe and elsewhere, Timberland met its goal of purchasing 15% clean energy out of our total energy usage in 2011. Going forward, we anticipate challenges as we look for opportunities to curb energy demand and emissions while still growing our business and expanding our international presence. Stay tuned to updates on Timberland’s Responsibility site for how we’ll tackle this challenge.
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At Timberland, corporate social and environmental responsibility is so integral to everything we do, it even informs where we locate our office space. Take Canada, for example. Timberland’s Canada office was previously located outside the city of Toronto, with no direct access to public subway transportation or bike routes. The building was not LEED® certified. And with twice the space we needed, it also lacked energy efficiency. Clearly, something needed to change.
At the time the staff began contemplating a move, Evergreen Brick Works targeted the former Don Valley Brick Works—a 12-acre complex of historic but deteriorating buildings in Toronto—for transformation into an international showcase for urban sustainability and green design.
Established in 1991, Evergreen Canada is a national charity that seeks to deepen the connection between people and nature within an urban setting, by creating a community environmental center that inspires and equips visitors to live, work, and play more sustainably.
In restoring and renovating the complex, Evergreen implemented a number of innovative and eco-conscious features, including:
- An on-site garden center selling local produce, with proceeds funding Evergreen’s efforts
- Solar chimneys to improve air flow and reduce the need for air conditioning
- Solar panels attached to the hot water heater, meeting 50% of the demand for hot water
- A roof that reflects light to lower summer building temperatures
- Rooftop grass and wildflower plantings for wildlife habitat and stormwater retention
- Rain-harvesting cisterns
“Even the parking lot was built with the environment in mind,” marvels Josh McKellar, marketing manager for Timberland in Canada. “The porous concrete lets water flow through as if the parking lot wasn’t there. This helps maintain the natural water cycle—reducing stormwater runoff and replenishing groundwater.” McKellar also points out that the LED parking lot lights are designed to direct light downward, keeping the sky naturally dark for birds, insects, and bats and simultaneously reducing energy use by 85 percent.
Evergreen’s efforts to reduce environmental impact have received much acclaim, including LEED® Platinum Certification for its anchor building and recognition as a “Top 10 Geotourism Destination” by National Geographic shortly after the complex opened in 2010. So it’s no wonder that competition among potential tenants was high.
In our application for space at Evergreen Brick Works, Timberland stressed the alignment of the company’s values with those of Evergreen and the potential for collaborating on sustainable innovation and consumer engagement, such as the “Earth Month” tree-planting event that occurs every April.
The application was approved, and Timberland’s Canada staff moved into the new office space in June 2011. “Their vision is to create a community of like-minded groups,” says McKellar. “We became the only for profit company to occupy the Evergreen Brick Works because of our corporate environmental commitment. They felt this would help round out the community.”
The total cost to Timberland was $60,000, a figure that included building out the raw space and moving furniture to the new location. The company also realized immediate savings of $2,000 per month in rent. From an environmental standpoint, the new site provides better access to public transportation, and the building’s energy efficiency features will contribute to Timberland’s ability to meet our 2015 goal of a 50% emissions reduction for our global facilities and air travel. In addition, according to McKellar, “The location will allow us to better interact with and respond to our customers, and we’ll also appeal to consumers who demand more from a sustainability standpoint for our product.”
As a result of this move, the Canada staff earned Timberland’s coveted Carden Welsh Award for Environmental Excellence, an honor established in 2002 and awarded annually to individuals or teams of employees whose actions lead to a sustainable improvement in Timberland’s environmental footprint.
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Timberland is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of our stores. In fact, we have applied our experience developing the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Retail certified stores to our new store designs. These stores use 30% less energy when compared to our old store models. From a total cost standpoint, they are the least expensive stores to build and the most cost-effective to operate.
For example, our most recent store retrofit resulted in replacing less efficient incandescent spotlights in nearly all of our North American stores with LED spotlights. The new bulbs consume 80% less energy—resulting in savings of approximately $170,000 in 2010 and reducing the carbon emissions produced by our retail stores by more than 15%. Lasting an expected 10 years, the retrofit reduces bulb replacement. In addition, the new lighting produces less heat, which helps save on air conditioning during summer months.
Click on the video above to learn about the environmental design and materials used in our San Francisco Specialty Store. And be sure to check out our new section online about Timberland’s Sustainable Store Design. Reducing waste, using recycled materials, and energy efficient lighting all contribute to reductions in our overall footprint.
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