Target, Amazon Reveal Sustainable Store Models

More than a dozen upgrades and features have been incorporated throughout the design and development of the 35,000-square-foot Seattle space. As a result, Amazon expects the store will save nearly 185 tons of CO2e each year, equivalent to driving around the Earth 18 times in a standard passenger vehicle (Calculation based on CO2e saved, using the EPA carbon calculator).

Updates to this store include transitioning to a CO2-based refrigeration system, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 38 metric tons per year compared to a conventional system.

The store also uses steel byproducts in the concrete floor to reduce the embodied carbon—the carbon associated with the manufacturing and installation of the flooring—by nearly 40% compared to a standard concrete floor. Some upgrades will be used at all Amazon Fresh grocery stores moving forward, such as the lower-carbon concrete flooring.

The store features a fully electric kitchen space, where teams prepare fresh food, that reduces the need for fossil fuel combustion in the store.

Amazon is also electrifying the store using 100% renewable electricity sourced from Amazon’s renewable energy projects.

Customers shopping in-store will be able to choose from a variety of Climate Pledge Friendly products, ranging from grocery items to household cleaning and beauty products.

Excess food items will be donated to local food banks.