The Balzac story: Sharing fresh thinking on sustainability
Since its 2010 launch, the story of innovation at Balzac is inspiring greater action on sustainability throughout the retail and food services industry. There’s a push across Canada to adopt more sustainable technologies, responsible construction practices, environmental building design, and strive for operational excellence.
Located about 25 kilometers north of Calgary, Alberta, the Balzac Fresh Food Distribution Centre is one of Canada’s largest refrigerated buildings at 400,000-square-feet. This first-of-its-kind facility serves as a primary hub for fresh and frozen food destined for 104 Walmart stores across Western Canada. Balzac is run by third-party logistics provider SCM (Supply Chain Management Inc.) with a 600-strong workforce.
Built to exacting environmental standards, Balzac is a living lab of sustainable building practices in virtually every facet of its design, construction and operations. The facility is piloting an array of leading-edge technologies like hydrogen fuel cells to power our fleet of forklift trucks, solar-thermal panels to heat water, wind power to generate electricity, and LEDs for general overhead lighting.
Now into its second full year of operation, Balzac is already proving Walmart Canada’s business case for how sustainable excellence can drive ROI:
- 60 per cent more energy-efficient than our traditional refrigerated centres
- Projected to save on energy costs by $4.8M over its first five years
Leading by example
But our goal with Balzac is not just about reducing our environmental footprint or trimming operating costs. It’s about inspiring fellow retailers and businesses to realize the benefits and take more action themselves.
“Balzac demonstrates that there’s no need to wait for sustainability,” says Virginia Garbutt, Walmart Canada’s director of strategic network planning and improvement. “The technology solutions are here and ready to put into practice. We believe this facility showcases the immediate returns of investing in green innovations and the positive impact of a sustainability mindset.”
With this goal in mind, our project principals have engaged a wide audience of business and community leaders on the local, national and international front to share the Balzac story and present a compelling blueprint for change.
Opening our doors
We’re also regularly opening the doors of Balzac itself to allow people to see and learn about the facility for themselves. Visitors to date include everyone from Walmart Global leaders to Canadian vendors, competitors, students, government representatives and a variety of leading environmental groups and not-for-profit organizations. Balzac has also served as the site for one of our key partners to hold a sustainability-oriented forum on the premises.
The project leaders are also sharing the Balzac story through a series of presentations at national and international conferences and events. And Balzac is earning the attention of our peers with recent honours like the Food Logistics 2011 Golden Pallet Award, the first food industry award to recognize excellence in warehousing. The facility is also serving as the subject for business case studies from both the academic and private sectors.
Exporting green learning
In line with our goals, Balzac is also directly empowering other companies, including other Walmart Distribution Centres, to achieve greater sustainability – by adopting a similar combination of leading-edge technologies and best practices in sustainable operations:
- The hydrogen fuel-cell technology that powers Balzac’s entire fleet of 71-forklift trucks is now being installed at two other Walmart distribution centres: Cornwall, Ontario and Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
- Inspiring greater usage of LED lighting in outdoor applications, such as parking lot lighting starting at our Fergus, Ontario store in 2012.
- Balzac is working with SCM, our operational partner to promote a day-to-day culture of sustainability to help realize the overall project objectives. Initially, an internal Sustainability Committee was formed to drive initiatives and education within warehouse operations. The team now collaborates on numerous internal projects including an effort to reduce paper by organizing a ‘Sustainability Week’ and working with local suppliers to promote sustainable packaging.
- In future building projects, Walmart Canada plans to integrate sustainable solutions at every phase of the project – from overall building design and procurement practices to waste diversion during construction.