Pb2 Firm Crusades Balance

When America’s largest retailer wanted to turn over a new leaf, it called on an old friend.
In October 2005, Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., made official the company’s sustainable initiatives. To accomplish the goals set forth, Wal-Mart enlisted the help of pb2 Architecture & Engineering of Rogers.
The firm has been doing business with Wal-Mart since 1969. Pb2, originally Perry Butcher & Associates with two partners and a secretary, now is the largest architectural firm in Northwest Arkansas.
It now employs 350 people across the country, and 80 percent of those people work solely on Wal-Mart projects. Pb2 works on about 1,200 jobs per year for Wal-Mart. From small additions to remodels and new stores, pb2 is helping transform the retail colossus into a gentle, green giant.
“We’ve done some very fabulous things with them,” said Tasha Settles, vice president. “We’ve been very plugged into their sustainable and greening movement.”
Following Scott’s speech, Wal-Mart formed an architectural think tank in March 2006, pulling pb2 into the fold once again. This group brought together architects and engineers from around the country to essentially write Wal-Mart’s history as an emissary of the environment.
“We’ve worked hand-in-hand with what typically would be our competition, but since we all work for the same client, it’s a very collaborative effort,” Settles said.
Pb2 complements the efforts by providing three major programs for Wal-Mart: site adaption, expansion (including property acquisition) and store planning.
Wal-Mart has opened experimental stores in Aurora, Colo., and McKinney, Texas, to test sustainable technologies in two distinctly different climates. Wal-Mart used every green product available, Settles said, even technologies still in research and development and some that are not yet cost effective.
The sustainable technologies now being tested at the two experimental stores are being implemented in four high-efficiency Supercenters to be opened this year. One store has already opened in Kansas City and another in Rockford, Ill.
Motion-activated LED lighting and sensor-activated, low-flow water faucets and a 100 percent integrated water-source format heating, cooling and refrigeration system all work to reduce the store’s carbon footprint. Wal-Mart anticipates a 20 percent reduction in energy costs in these new prototypes.
These sustainable efforts are moving the retailer closer to Scott’s goal of a prototype store that is at least 25 percent more energy efficient and produces 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than current stores.

Balancing Business
Pb2’s bread and butter historically has been Wal-Mart.
“We’re fortunate to be on their shirt tail,” said David Hauser, executive vice president.
In the past, the retailer has accounted for more than 90 percent of business, but that is changing.
Rather than keeping nearly all of its eggs in one basket, pb2 is starting to diversify its project portfolio. Opening the portfolio to new, outside projects also gives pb2 the necessary experience to attract even more clients.
Hauser said Wal-Mart now accounts for about 75 percent of revenues, and dropping. He said the company is aiming at more of a 60/40 mix.
“We’ve kind of had tunnel vision, and I say we’ve just opened up our blinders a little bit,” he said.
It’s not that pb2 is doing less work for Wal-Mart, it’s just adding other projects and employees to handle them.
Beyond Rogers, pb2 has opened offices in Chicago, Seattle, Dallas and Kennedale, Texas. The offices began supporting established clients such as Wal-Mart, but now are working on establishing new clients and contracts.
The Dallas office has focused on religious architecture. It is planning a 1 million-SF campus for Prestonwood Baptist Church, with a congregation of 27,000, in Plano, Texas.
The Chicago office, after a year of operation, is expanding to a staff of 17, and has already had to move offices to accommodate growth. The result of these efforts have pb2 working on 800 to 1,000 projects per month in all 50 states.
Outside of Wal-Mart, pb2 still has a strong retail background. Its list of clients includes Johnson & Johnson Cos., Dunkin’ Donuts stores, Lowe’s stores, Radio Shack Corp., Subway Restaurants, FedEx Kinko’s and Tyson Foods Inc.
In Northwest Arkansas, pb2 designed the Church at Pinnacle Hills, Myers Ranch, Broyles Athletic Complex and Superior Mazda dealership in Bentonville. Another large project has been designing the 400,000-SF Superior Building in Bentonville.
“We’re having some fun with what we’re doing in a different direction than just with Wal-Mart,” Hauser said.
Hauser said it’s pb2’s work ethic, vision and sustainability work that attracts clients. People simply recognize pb2’s work and want to hire them for their own projects.
“The work that we’re getting is self-promoting,” he said.

Search for Fruit
Developing and implementing sustainable technologies is closely related to finances. Unless a green technology can generate substantial returns on investment, most are unwilling to try something new.
With Wal-Mart’s resources, it can afford to blaze the sustainable trail.
“That’s why big box retailers are going to be the ones on the forefront of making this happen for all of us,” Hauser said.
“Wal-Mart doesn’t do anything that’s flashy — that takes on that representation of just putting photovoltaics up just because we’re going to be sustainable. They’ve been living it and breathing it for years.” (Photovoltaics are the cells that collect energy from the sun for conversion to electricity).
Until costs on many eco-friendly technologies come down, there’s little interest from clients for those initiatives, so pb2 is expanding its outlook.
“Systems is your low-hanging fruit,” Hauser said.
Daylight harvesting systems, popular with Wal-Mart, coordinate lighting from skylights and dimmable lighting units to automatically adjust the lighting in stores throughout the day. Wal-Mart now has these types of systems in more than 2,100 stores.
Heating and cooling systems are another way to save electricity, and therefore, money. Wal-Mart uses a centralized energy management system in its home office to control the more than 4,000 U.S. stores.
“If the freezer door has been open for 10 minutes, somebody calls the manager and says, ‘Do you know your freezer door is open?'” Hauser said.

Another Step
Taking systems a step farther, pb2 has created a commissioning service. Commissioning is a verification process that the equipment installed in a building is operating at the optimal level, said James Zachry, leading the company’s commissioning authority.
Pb2 had been doing “construction observation,” monitoring construction to ensure things are being built as designed. Now, the commissioning service allows pb2 to follow up with owners after taking occupancy.
Not only can pb2 design these systems, but its people can also perform field tests and document the results. Like regular maintenance on a car, pb2 can provide equipment checkups. This ensures equipment is running at maximum efficiency, saving energy and money.
Zachry said HVAC is the most common system for this service, but clients have also enlisted pb2’s aid on lighting automation, filling window insulation values, computer systems and water and irrigation systems.
“Communication is the major downfall because of all the people involved,” he said.
Architects, contractors and owners may not all agree on what’s best for the project. Pb2 can be hired to work on the owner’s behalf, or as a third-party advocate.
“We’re really uniquely qualified as a company,” Zachry said. “We cover the architecture and engineering, we’re full service. We can cover from the building envelope all the way through the mechanicals and in to the computer networking.”
Commissioning is often recommended by states for schools and government buildings, but it is required for those seeking LEED certification.