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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 F O C U S E N E R G Y says. Of the 700 stores, 500 have earned certifi cates and the rest are in the process of doing so. In addition to savings, such good business stewardship also attracts increasingly sophisticated consumers looking for stores with environmentally and community friendly missions. Research by Cone Communications of Boston found that 71% of millen- nials and 63% of overall Americans hope businesses will take the lead to drive social and environmental change going forward in the absence of government regula- tion. Globally, that number rises to 91% of consumers expecting companies to do more than make a profi t. Rallying the troops Corporate and social responsibility measures translate to employees as well, attracting some to work at such companies or staying with them and working more effi ciently. Cooke points to a Gallup report fi nding that stores engaging their employees in sustainability mea- sures are 18% more profi table and 18% more productive. "We give employee engagement more points than energy installation," he says of Manomet's rating system. Frey says Bow Street sends emails to its teams to communicate what the store has achieved in sustain- ability measures. Bow Street has about $15 million in revenue and is profi table, he adds. It has 109 employ- ees in 15,000 square feet of space. LED lighting and other measures are helping improve profi tability in what is a cut-throat competitive market with narrow margins vying for consumers. Bow Street uses low-energy LEDs for all of its track lighting, and has replaced the fl uorescent lights in its 55 refrigerator cases with LEDs. e latter translated into a $40 savings per door per year to total $2,200 saved annually. With those LEDs already in place, Bow Street is in the process of putting LED lamps in the 18 overhead lights in the store. It will cost a total of $5,200, including parts and labor, to replace all the lamps, but that will result in $1,000 in electricity cost savings annually, making the payback about fi ve years, Frey says. He adds that the fl uorescent bulbs are easy to swap out with LEDs, which can last more than 60,000 hours versus the twice a year swap-out of fl uorescents. Bow Street also uses iceless seafood displays, which can save $5,000 in energy compared to ice and 100,000 gallons of water a year, Cooke says. Lighting changes pay back the quickest, Cooke says, adding "every $1 in energy effi ciency is like putting $18 into the revenue stream." at includes keeping seals tight on freezers and meat coolers so they don't leak and require extra energy to keep cool. Each leaky door, he says, can cost the store $2 to $5 a day. Scoring above 100 In the end, Bow Street scored 102, more than the 100 required for a small store. "What stood out is their conscious eff ort to design the store to use as a community gather- ing center," Cooke said. " ere are seats and tables when you come into the store, and the locally sourced meat is right there when you walk in, and is highlighted [on a blackboard]." Bow Street moved into its current facility in May 2011, with the Nappi family owners aiming for an appealing, open environment. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E »

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