GO Outdoors is a leading retailer in outdoor equipment and clothing. Founded in 2004, the company is now the UK’s biggest outdoor retailer with over 50 stores. The company’s mission is about ‘inspiring everyone to get outdoors for less and love it as much as we do’. To achieve this, GO Outdoors needs to have stores that provide customers with an enjoyable shopping experience no matter the temperature outside.
The structure and large open nature of the majority of it’s out of town stores means that in hot weather it can be difficult to maintain a comfortable temperature. This is was especially true for some of the retailer’s mezzanine floors, which registered temperatures above 35°C on particularly hot summer days, resulting in uncomfortable conditions for both customers and employees.
GO Outdoors was looking for a green, low-cost solution for its in-store cooling and wanted an alternative to traditional air conditioning. A number of different technologies and manufacturers were assessed. The important factors for GO Outdoors were the capital cost, operational and energy efficiency.
- Client
- Location United Kingdom
The Solution
After reviewing several possible solutions, EcoCooling’s ECP Active Coolers were chosen following an impressive demo at a nearby unit. The GO Outdoors store in Taunton was the first to be completed and was a test to ensure that the coolers could deliver what was required. With reports of a comfortable 21°C on the mezzanine floor throughout the summer, the GO Outdoors team knew that it could rely on the EcoCooler technology.
Following the success at the Taunton store, the small EcoCoolers were installed by an approved installer, Celsius Design, across 12 more GO Outdoors stores. Each location was reviewed separately to ensure the installation suited the individual requirements of the building.
The EcoCooling control system was configured to only use evaporative cooling when the ambient temperature goes above 15°C. It was also programmed so that the end of any cooling period would end with pure ventilation to remove any high relative humidity air from the building. Installation was finished in record time, during normal working hours without disruption to the store’s operation.
The Result
An effective cooling solution with a projected annual running cost of £900 per store compared to £12,000 for air conditioning, which is a huge saving when multiplied across 13 stores. The retailer has also reduced the yearly carbon emissions by 50 tonnes per store compared to air conditioning systems, helping to make the company more carbon neutral.
Impressed with the performance of the coolers, Celsius Design has since completed installations at a further ten GO Outdoors stores, meaning a total of 23 stores are reaping the cooling and cost-saving benefits.
“Celsius Design installed all the EcoCooling systems during normal trading hours with no downtime or disruption to trading. The systems work very well and have vastly improved conditions in the stores for our customers and staff, hence the reason we have installed the second phase of systems.”
Alistair Reid
Facilities, Energy & Environmental Manager, GO Outdoors Ltd.
