Whole Foods is deeply committed to environmental and social stewardship. As a company, one of their
eight core values is to, “serve and support (their) local and global communities.” As designers, Whole
Foods challenges us to create environments that are: inviting and fun; reflect the communities they
serve; and are healthy for the environment, their Team Members, and their guests. In turn, the
sustainable goals established for Whole Foods Market at the Domain, were to create an environmentally
responsive, specialty grocery store that demonstrates Whole Foods commitment to sustainable and
responsible building and business practices.
In April of 2010, Whole Foods Market announced its corporate commitment to reduce energy
consumption by 25% per square foot by the year 2015. In order to meet this goal, Whole Foods Market
at the Domain incorporates energy efficient design strategies and advanced high-performance systems
that include:
 A heat exchanger that utilizes waste heat from the refrigeration system to preheat the domestic
water before it goes to the natural gas fired water heaters.
 LED track lighting throughout the store and in the service areas, as well as automatic lighting
controls such as: occupancy sensors, astronomical time clocks, and programmed time functions.
 Commissioning of the building envelope and mechanical and electrical equipment to ensure that
all energy using systems are installed and calibrated to operate as efficiently as possible.
 A solar power system consisting of 690 photovoltaic modules that annually produces about
275,000 kWh of electricity.
 Design elements of the project stayed true to one of Whole Foods Market’s core values of
environmentalism by achieving an Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB) award of 4-stars.
 Environmentalism and support of the local community were both important goals throughout
the project, and helped drive our team to source over 50% of the project’s materials from Texas
 The refrigeration system at Whole Foods Market at the Domain was designed and is maintained
to meet the GreenChill criteria. Whole Foods has adopted the most advanced green
refrigeration technologies and environmental best practices. These efforts distinguish Whole
Foods from other grocers and have earned Whole Foods Market at the Domain a Green Chill
Silver-level Certification from the EPA.
 During construction, extensive recycling efforts allowed for over 76.3% of the waste to be
diverted from the landfill
The combined results of these measures resulted in the following for Whole Foods Market at the
Domain:
 The store has exceeded the efficiency requirements of the City of Austin’s Energy Code and the
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standard
90.1-2004 by 29%; and the interior lighting exceeded the 2009 International Energy
Conservation Code (IECC) by 15%.
 The 186.3 kW photovoltaic PV array is expected to offset approximately 20% of the electricity
usage at the store and 184.5 tons of CO2, annually. That’s the equivalent of 7,381 trees
cleansing the air for one year, or 22.4 cars taken off the road for one year!
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Water Conservation - Low-flow and flush fixtures reduced indoor water consumption by 31.8%
below what is allowed by local ordinance, saving 494,641 gallons of potable water annually.
Harvested rainwater will provide 100% of all landscape irrigation.
Energy Efficiency - The store has exceeded ASHRAE 90.1-2004 standard by 29%, and the interior
lighting exceeded 2009 IECC by 15%.
Alternative Energy - The 186.3 kW PV array is expected to offset approximately 20% of the
electricity usage and 184.5 tons of CO2, annually. A solar monitoring system provides a live feed
of the power generated by the 690 solar panels, allowing people to visualize the impact of
transforming sunlight into usable electricity.