Belk – Daniel González-Kreisberg – 2012

Goals 

Daniel González-Kreisberg was tasked with creating and implementing an energy efficiency pilot project program for Belk, a department store with over 300 locations across the southeastern United States. 

Solutions

The program González-Kreisberg created utilizes efficient heating, cooling and lighting systems to reduce energy costs and achieve ENERGY STAR certification at the stores. He determined that as many as 20 percent of Belk stores could qualify for ENERGY STAR certification with capital investments that pay back in less than three years. Subsequently González-Kreisberg managed the initial implementation of these projects at Belk locations in Burlington, N. Carolina, and Columbia, S. Carolina.

Potential Impact

With González-Kreisberg’s findings, Belk could reduce the average energy use of its stores by up to 33 percent by upgrading lighting, upgrading building envelopes as recommended by infrared surveying, installing variable frequency drives on heating and cooling systems, and installing vending miser controls on beverage vending machines.