BJ’s Commitment to the Environment

BJ’s Wholesale Club maintains a strong commitment to preserving our environment for future generations through our investments in innovative and environmentally sound energy-efficiency programs that reduce our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Designs for our newest Clubs incorporate proven technologies that can save each Club up to 650,000 kWh/year — enough energy to power 59 average homes for a year — while reducing CO₂ emissions by 394 metric tons/year.

Clean Energy To promote clean energy, BJ’s is participating in innovative solar power partnerships at 16 Clubs in 6 states. We’ve donated roof space for the installation of solar panels that generate power totaling 2.1 MW (2,100 kW). BJ’s purchases/provides a percentage of the power to each of the Clubs where the solar panels are installed; this initiative also supports the value of the green solar generation attributes that are sold and used to fund important environmental projects. BJ’s continues to pursue additional sites in order to expand on this initiative.

Energy Efficiency

BJ’s is committed to improving energy efficiency in our Clubs and corporate offices. Here are just a few of the many examples of how BJ’s is combining the latest energy efficiency tools with innovative physical plant management to help reduce our energy usage:

• Energy Management Systems in all Clubs automatically monitor and control lighting, HVAC and refrigeration systems. These are used in conjunction with extensive power-use metering and sub-metering which provide baseline energy usage and bench-marking capabilities.
• BJ’s Daylight Harvesting Strategy lights select Clubs with special T5 fluorescent lights combined with over 90 skylights. The lights sense when the skylights are bringing in enough light and dim automatically. The result: a bright and inviting Club experience and reduced energy usage.
• Low-energy freezer and refrigerator cases with energy-efficient LED lighting.
• LED lighting in select refrigerated and non-refrigerated display cases.
• Sensors in restrooms, offices and break rooms that turn off lights when rooms aren’t in use.
• Updated restrooms with low-flow plumbing devices, electronic sensor-activated faucets and low-flow aerators to reduce water usage.

And BJ’s is reducing water consumption by using electronic sensors, aeration devices and low-flow fixtures in Club plumbing systems.

BJ’s has also improved equipment control systems and has introduced extensive power-use metering and sub-metering systems that identify system efficiencies and provide valuable benchmarks, allowing us to assess our progress toward our energy-efficiency goals in real time.

In addition, BJ’s has been an ENERGY STAR^® Partner since 1998 and has received numerous awards for energy efficiency, such as the Excellence in Energy Management and Retail Partner of the Year (Honorable Mention) awards, as well as the EPA New England Environmental Merit Award, and the Edison Electric Institute’s Energy Management Award for Partnership.

Power Reliability through Demand Management
To help maintain a reliable electrical supply, BJ’s has participated in peak load management programs. For example, during peak days during the summer months, BJ’s can respond to system-wide load reduction requests by turning off 50% of the lights at over 140 Clubs in various states, resulting in a potential total load curtailment of over 5 MW. Participation in programs like these helps reduce electricity price spikes and the likelihood of community voltage reductions or blackouts.

Energy Education/Awareness
Energy education and awareness for both Club and corporate Team Members is facilitated through a chain-wide information exchange program. BJ’s runs a conservation program in which each Club helps eliminate Club operations that consume energy unnecessarily. The program educates in-Club Team Members on energy-efficiency strategies and provides incentives to change energy-wasting behaviors.

Recycling

In 2011, BJ’s recycled more than 50,000 tons of cardboard. This chain-wide recycling initiative helped reduce trash-disposal expenses, prevented 35,302 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from being added to the atmosphere* and freed up 176,426 cu. yd. in municipal landfills. Best of all, providing material for paper production helped to conserve the equivalent of these important natural resources:

• 857,294 mature trees
• 206.77 million kWh of electricity
• 456,196 barrels of oil
• 353.02 million gallons of drinking water

Looking to the Future
BJ’s will continue to identify and test strategies and technologies that can boost our overall energy and waste disposal efficiency. Investing in these improvements will reduce overall expenses — savings that can be passed on to Members — and help support international efforts to conserve energy, reduce carbon footprints and combat global warming.

*Environmental benefits listed represent the difference in natural resource consumption and GHG emissions resulting from using recycled versus virgin inputs. Sources available upon request.