The Home Depot

In 2006, The Home Depot (THD) set an ambitious goal: Promote energy efficiency in the US and Canada by increasing sales of ENERGY STAR qualified units and energy-saving products by 25% to 79 million units. We exceeded that goal! THD sold over 82.5 million ENERGY STAR qualified units and energy-saving products, up nearly 30%. This increase helped our customers see annual savings of $310 million in gas and electric costs, 2.9 million kWh/year (enough energy to light Washington DC for five and a half years), 2.02 billion gallons of water, and 4.6 billion pounds of carbon (equivalent to removing nearly 400,000 cars from the road for a year). The positive lifetime environmental impact of the products sold this year equals $3.5 billion in gas and electric costs, 29.4 million kWh/year (enough energy to light DC for 56 years), 22 billion gallons of water and 46.5 billion pounds of carbon (equivalent to removing more than 4 million cars from the road for a year). THD committed more than $423,000,000 to promoting energy efficiency via advertising and in-store promotions.

Our strategy included fully integrated plans to promote energy efficiency to our customers through all touch points and was implemented across every company department within THD, including Merchandising, Store Operations, Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, Visual Merchandising, Community Affairs, THD Foundation and Government Affairs. THD also increased public awareness about energy efficiency through a variety of campaigns including Energy Innovation Month, an At-Home Services Insulation Installation Program, consumer clinics and various energy-efficient-product launches. The result: a staggering 842,755,217,748 impressions related to energy efficient products and environmental protection and conservation. THD worked closely with EPA/DOE to ensure the prominence of ENERGY STAR messaging in all applicable product training, including a new “You Can Sell ENERGY STAR Qualified Products” course, delivered to all 57,353 new Associates in Building Materials, Hardware, Plumbing, Electrical, Millwork and Appliances. More than 102,000 Associates went through ENERGY STAR-specific and related training in 2006, an increase of 7% over the previous year.

In 2006, THD took full advantage of and sought opportunities to expand our relationships with utility and supplier partners, including (but not limited to): Nevada Power, Connecticut Power and Light, Georgia Power, Southern California Electric, Southern California Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric, LIPA, NYSERDA, Entergy, TCP, Honeywell, Dow Chemical, Owens Corning, Certainteed, LG Electronics, Andersen, Trane, GE, Maytag and Lithonia to promote product rebates and buy-downs in partnership with state utilities. These resulted in savings of nearly $5,000,000 for our customers. In addition, THD is committed to helping others succeed in their energy conservation efforts. In 2006, THD created a unique analytical tool that others can use to complete a detailed analysis of ENERGY STAR qualified product categories in terms of price points, styles and features. The system then sorts and ranks ENERGY STAR and non-ENERGY STAR qualified products to show merchants the features of each to identify gaps and set targets to address those gaps.

THD strives to improve energy efficiency throughout our organization. We do this through a number of programs:

• Eco Options: Introduced first in Canada and now in the US, Eco Options is a new program that provides environmentally friendly product options for home and home improvement needs, making it easy for consumers to make a positive difference for the environment, one choice at a time. Every product with the Eco Options label has less of an impact on the environment than conventional products, and offers one or more of the following benefits: Sustainable Forestry, Energy Efficiency, Clean Water, Clean Air, Health Home.
• Energy Efficiency at the Stores: THD has improved the lighting systems in our stores via new light fixtures that use high-output T5 lamps and electronic program start ballasts, saving 23% more energy. By replacing the fixtures, THD has produced an average energy savings of 29.4 Megawatts of reduced load (40kw per store x 285 store upgrades in 2006). We also have replaced outdoor signage with more efficient LED models, incorporated lower racking, and use more efficient HVAC units. Many new stores have lower ceilings, reflective roof surfaces, entrance vestibules and more efficient HVAC units. Each of these advancements contributes to increased energy efficiency for the store. Stores built since 2002, on average, are 34% more efficient than previously built stores.
• SmartWay Partnership: THD is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout our transportation system. THD worked with the EPA to help develop and implement this voluntary program aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by 75 million tons by 2012. We currently ship more than 75% of our products with SmartWay partners and we include an environmental clause in contacts and RFPs.
• Energy Hog Program: The DOE and The Alliance to Save Energy, in partnership with THD, conducted national campaigns to deliver the message of conservation and energy efficiency to children and their families.
• Hispanic Outreach ENERGY STAR Program: For the third year in a row, THD, in partnership with the Hispanic communities of Las Vegas and Reno, conducted ENERGY STAR consumer training in local communities.
• Hurricane Katrina “Shelter from the Storm” Campaign: THD, DOE and several suppliers conducted five “Shelter from the Storm” training expos and clinics for those in hurricane-impacted areas.
• THD Foundation: Our mission is to build affordable, efficient and healthy homes and promote sustainability by supporting nonprofit organizations with funds and volunteers. The Foundation encourages housing developers to go beyond just addressing affordability and to focus on the health and environmental impact of housing design and construction. The Foundation strives to help the industry move closer to incorporating that focus in all new development.

The Home Depot is proud to be the reigning ENERGY STAR Retail Partner of the Year and we continue to lead the way in promoting energy efficiency among consumers in the US and Canada.