Starbucks Building Greener Stores

Image Courtesy of Starbucks

Have you ever wondered why out of all the places, your go to place is the Starbucks across the street? I've always found that cafe soothing, easy to focus and a place to get inspired. whether for studying for an upcoming exam, preparing a project, or just you, yourself and your sketch book ready to sketch some ideas. I've always found Starbucks my Go-To place.

Aside from their delicious selection of croissants and baked goods, their wide variety of coffee beans and the strong smell of fresh brewed coffee in the morning; Starbucks's interior decor have stood out, giving it this welcoming warmth and reflecting not only their love and passion for coffee, but as well as their love for the green community - our environment. Their Interior Decor is so inspired by the environment and nature, that it allows us to naturally feel oneness and comfort with our surrounding.

Image Courtesy of Starbucks

" Our coffee comes directly from the earth so we naturally take an interest in treating it well. We strive to reduce the impact our stores have on the environment and this commitment influences almost every aspect of how we approach design and construction, including landscape, building methods, materials, lighting and more. "

"We believe a coffeehouse should be a welcoming, inviting and familiar place for people to connect, so we design our stores to reflect the unique character of the neighborhoods they serve. We are also interested in the way design can connect us all to sustainable building practices and provoke thoughtful questions and engagement with the built environment. In addition to reducing energy and water consumption, we incorporate reused and recycled materials wherever possible and often use locally inspired design details and materials in our stores."

Starbucks Chicago

Starbucks stores are LEED Certified (LEED is short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) Since the late 2010, Starbucks began to certify (LEED) their stores Globally for all the new company owned stores. With over 1,200 certified stores they have successfully grown a green building program world wide. What I admire about Starbuck's stores, not only are they environmentally friendly, Their Interior is adapted in a way that it reflects the local culture of each region they are located in. Hence why wherever I travel whether in Europe or the states, One of the many places I must check out is the Starbucks in their neighbourhood. The Interior Decor in each region vary uniquely, with their interesting use of wood and texture of deep earthy tones, yet still they manage to keep their identity clear.

Starbucks Cambodia

In 2001 Starbucks joined the U.S. Green Building Council® (USGBC) in 2001 and collaborated with them to develop the LEED® for Retail program, an effort to adapt LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) to new construction and commercial interior strategies for retail businesses. Starbucks later became one of the first retailers to join USGBC’s LEED volume certification pilot program.

"In 2008 we challenged ourselves to use LEED certification not just for flagship stores and larger buildings, but for all new, company-operated stores. Many people, even internally, were skeptical, especially with Starbucks growth across the globe. "

"Going forward we will continue to explore strategies to bring all of our stores to a sustainable building standard and will continue to ensure that our approach to designing, building, and maintaining our stores is inclusive of a range of environmental goals, including energy and water conservation, renewable energy, and recycling and reducing waste."

Let us take you for a tour - Starbucks around the World

Starbucks Waikiki

New York

Amsterdam