IKEA USA is committed to two initiatives to advance its sustainability efforts.
The Swedish furniture manufacturer and retailer, with its U.S. headquarters in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, announced a solar installation project that will add solar parking, additional rooftop solar panels and battery energy storage systems to seven IKEA units throughout The country, in addition to renewable heating and heating systems. A cooling project to replace and upgrade existing HVAC systems starting at five stores in 2023.
These new projects are consistent with the company’s goal of increasing on-site renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency and eliminating the use of fossil fuels throughout its operations.
“We are taking bold steps to reduce our climate footprint in the United States and become a climate positive business by 2030. The solar project is aligned with our goal of being powered by 100% renewable energy, while the renewable heating and cooling project increases Sustainability at IKEA US, “Energy efficiency and goal of eliminating fossil fuels from our operations by 80% by 2030”
This is the second phase of the solar installation project, and the seven units include IKEA Brooklyn, Covina, New Haven, Paramus, Stoughton, Tempe, and an IKEA fulfillment facility in Tejon, California. IKEA Paramos was the first to be mechanically completed in July 2023 and features the company’s first long-term parking system of its kind that maximizes the number of solar panels and covers the entire parking deck roof.
Two other sites, the Covina and Tejon facility, are also on track for completion in 2023 and the remaining four (Brooklyn, New Haven, Stoughton, and Tempe) in 2024. When all seven units are operational, they will collectively provide 13,600 MWh of annual production , equivalent to offsetting 5,883 tons of carbon that would have entered the atmosphere.
The RHC project will replace and upgrade existing HVAC equipment with new, energy-efficient, high-performance central systems at five locations in 2023 including Ikea Canton, Draper, Orlando, Round Rock and Tampa. It is a four-phase project being undertaken while the stores remain open and will take approximately a year to complete.
“At IKEA, we are driven by a vision to create a positive impact on the environment while delivering innovative and sustainable solutions to our customers. Our RHC projects are an important part of our real estate contribution to decarbonisation and increasing energy efficiency. This year “It is just the beginning as we have a roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% across our operations by 2030.”
In the United States, the company currently has more than 250,000 solar panels on 90% of its sites, two geothermal properties, seven fuel cell arrays, and two wind farms that produce more renewable energy than the amount of energy used at its US sites.