美国最大户外用品零售商REI计划今年改造10%的直营店。REI倡导环保，此次改造主要是利用太阳能电力系统，是全美最大的太阳能投资项目之一。REI的光伏太阳能电池板可以满足35％左右的商店能源需求，约110万千瓦的电力。相当于供应117个家庭一年用电，可以减少880公吨二氧化碳排放量。（美国环境保护局）。
2008年，REI利用太阳电力系统改造11家直营店。其中7家店位于加利福尼亚，包括阿卡迪亚店，福尔松店，沙加缅度店，圣卡洛斯店，圣地亚哥店，旧金山店和圣罗莎店；俄勒冈州的3家店，即Clackamas店，希尔斯伯勒店和图拉丁店；还有在德克萨斯州RoundRock店。这11家店为REI以后如何利用太阳能打下了基础。
REI的销售，服务，商店发展和物流的执行副总裁BrianUnmacht表示，“我们继续设计，建造和经营我们的商店并保持可持续发展。这项太阳能投资项目会带来财政和环保双方面的效益，同时也给我们带来长远的合作以及实现减少二氧化碳排放量的目标。”
REI向蓝橡树能源，一家太阳能电力工程公司咨询了有关情况，如：现有的国家奖励和公用事业退税，目前的电力成本，商店屋顶的大小和目前状况。OffsetElectric为加利福尼亚州的7家店安装太阳能面板；Christenson电力公司为俄勒冈州的3家店安装相关设施。
蓝橡树能源总裁TobinBooth表示，“REI享受并保护自然环境。很荣幸很够和REI合作来完成这项具有历史意义的工程。”
Christenson电力公司总裁MarkWalter表示，“REI主要从事推动户外发展的工作，同时还利用可再生资源减少其对环境的影响。Christenson很自豪能够和REI合作。”
REI一直致力于绿色建筑来减少环境污染，减少经营成本和积累零售经验。为了这些，REI重点做好几个方面：节约用水，废物回收，能源效率和室内空气质量。这些项目利用可再生资源。REI目前所采购的20％电力来源是绿色的，包括风能和生物质能，并继续与公共事业单位一起开发更多的可选择方案。
2006年5月，REI宣布零售规划和绿色建筑概念。该公司将分析Boulder店和RoundRock店的发展状况。继Boulder店和RoundRock店，REI计划在2010年开第三家环保店。REI在2006年管理报告中就公布了减少公司二氧化碳排放量的战略，社会职责，环保和库存的温室气体排放量。更多详情，请登陆www.rei.com/stewardship。
原文：REI to Retrofit 11 Stores for Solar
SportsOneSource Media Posted: 5/15/2008
Recreational Equipment, Inc. plans to retrofit more than 10% of its stores with solar electric technology in 2008. Aligned with the co-op's environmental priorities, REI's commitment represents one of the largest solar investments for a specialty retailer in the country.
Photovoltaic solar panels can self-generate up to 35 percent of a store's energy needs. REI's solar investment will generate an estimated 1.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power 117 homes for one year and save approximately 880 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).
The co-op has selected 11 stores to be retrofitted with solar electric systems in 2008. The seven locations in California include Arcadia, Folsom, Sacramento, San Carlos, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. Additional stores include three in Oregon - Clackamas, Hillsboro and Tualatin - and the co-op's second prototype store in Round Rock, Texas, which was piloted in Boulder, Colo. and aims to test retail design and green building concepts. These locations will serve as a foundation for REI to determine how it approaches solar installations in the future.
"We are continuously looking for ways to make the design, construction and operation of our buildings more sustainable," said Brian Unmacht, REI's executive vice president of Sales, Service, Store Development and Logistics. "This investment in solar technology will deliver both financial and environmental benefits, helping to contribute to the long-term strength of the co-op and support our goal to reduce our carbon footprint."
Consulting with Blue Oak Energy, a solar electric engineering firm, the store locations were selected based on a variety of criteria, including available state incentives and utility rebates, current cost of electricity, and size and current condition of the store's roof. The solar panels for the REI stores in California will be installed by Offset Electric, while the Oregon locations will be retrofitted by Christenson Electric, Inc., a large privately held electrical contractor based in Portland, Ore.
"REI understands that enjoying and protecting the natural environment go hand-in-hand," said Tobin Booth, president of Blue Oak Energy. "We are honored to be part of this historic project to power REI retail stores with clean, renewable solar energy."
"It is naturally fitting that REI, whose main focus is promoting the great outdoors, would make use of renewable resources to reduce their impact on the environment and energize their stores," said Mark Walter, president of Christenson Electric, Inc. "Christenson is proud to be involved with REI's solar projects, along with our photovoltaic designer, EI Solutions."
REI is dedicated to green building design to lower its impacts on the environment, reduce operating costs and enhance the retail experience for its customers and employees. To accomplish this, the company has chosen to focus on areas such as increasing water conservation, waste recycling, energy efficiency and indoor air quality in its locations.
The co-op has committed to utilizing renewable power sources wherever possible. REI currently purchases approximately 20 percent of its electricity from green sources, including wind and biomass, and continues to collaborate with utility companies in developing additional options available in the market.
Announced in May 2006, REI's prototype initiative was developed to test retail design and green building concepts, and help the company make decisions on how it will approach store design and construction in the future. The company will analyze the Boulder and Round Rock locations extensively prior to opening a third prototype store currently targeted for 2010.
REI first announced formal strategies to reduce the company's carbon footprint in its 2006 stewardship report. For additional information on the co-op's social and environmental practices, including its inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, visit the 2007 stewardship report available online at www.rei.com/stewardship.