B&Q to cut energy costs by dimming lights in stores

B&Q is reportedly set to dim lights and lower temperatures in stores in order to cut energy costs and avoid price rises, according to The Telegraph.

The outlet reported that parent company, Kingfisher, has lowered the temperature in stores by 1-2 degrees alongside shortening the hours its heating is in effect.

Thierry Garnier, Kingfisher chief executive, told The Telegraph: “Improving the energy efficiency of our stores is good for our customers and for the environment. It helps us to keep prices low and reduce our carbon emissions.”

He also confirmed that the company is always “looking for new ways to save energy” and comes after it managed to lower its total property energy consumption last year by 12%.

The news comes after Kingfisher has teamed up with other home improvement companies in an effort to aid the industry in lowering its Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

EDRA/GHIN, the global trade bodies for home improvement retailers, has launched a new collaborative taskforce to reduce the sector’s emissions that come from retailers’ supply chains and from how their customers use the products they buy in their homes.

Adeo, Bunnings, Cainz, The Home Depot, and Hornbach are among the other participants in the task force that Kingfisher has joined.

According to EDRA/GHIN, Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions make up more than 90% of their overall emissions and are the “most important and most difficult to address, as they fall outside of retailers’ direct operational control”.

The EDRA/GHIN Scope 3 taskforce will aim to address this challenge by “agreeing to more consistent methodologies in how carbon data is treated through the supply chain and sharing best practices in both the reporting and, most importantly, accelerating the home improvement sector’s progress in reducing Scope 3 emissions”.