Castorama tests green building design for DIY stores

The French DIY chain Castorama has reopened a store that leads the way on green building design, according to the company. The store in question is in Antibes in the south of France, and has been completely refurbished over a two year period.
The five original store buildings have been redeveloped into two. The main building has been built to passive design standards (as recognised by the French Thermal Regulations 2012), meaning that it will produce more energy than it consumes. Castorama's vision is for the store to become a laboratory for testing new, sustainable construction techniques.
Some of these techniques used include:  double insulation, low energy air conditioning, variable LED lighting that dims or brightens depending on the amount of natural light available, rainwater recycling, windows that can regulate heat/cold, natural light shafts, 1 245 m² of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, reinforced concrete floor with a 20 per cent lower carbon footprint than standard, 90 per cent of site construction waste recycled, and real-time energy consumption monitoring.
The Castorama Antibes store reopening follows the opening of the latest Brico Dépôt store in Dax, south western France in October, which has been built to be as energy efficient as possible. It exceeds sustainability standards in insulation, heating and air conditioning. Both sales divisions are part of the British DIY group Kingfisher.