Home Depot getting greener (Atlanta)

The home improvement retailer with the big orange signs wants its stores to be more green.

Atlanta-based The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) said Thursday it cut its U.S. store energy use by 2.6 billion kilowatt-hours since 2004 and now aims for a 20 percent reduction in kWh per square foot usage in its U.S. stores by 2015.

The retailer also wants to shrink its greenhouse gas emissions in its domestic supply chain by 20 percent within the next five years.

Home Depot said it trimmed its U.S. stores' energy per square foot consumption by 16 percent since 2004. Six years ago, Home Depot's energy usage was 25 kWh per square foot. Through upgrading store HVAC systems, aligning stocking hours more closely with store operating hours, using CFL bulbs and switching to T5 lighting, the company's U.S. store energy usage now stands at 21 kWh per square foot. The 2.6 billion kWh of energy saved is enough energy to power 203,000 homes for one year.

Read the full story in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.