Chattanooga: CBL goes 'green'

CBL & Associates Properties Inc. officials say the company is joining the green movement by reusing construction barriers and water.

“Sustainability is important,” said Katie Reinsmidt, director of investor relations for Chattanooga-based CBL. “It’s good for everybody.”

The mall developer and operator recently named senior project manager Jim Williamson as director of sustainability initiatives. Mr. Williamson is overseeing efforts ranging from recycling paper in the company’s Chattanooga office to finding construction techniques and materials that are more friendly to the environment.

Many major retailers have created corporate positions such as Mr. Williamson’s, said Kent Jeffreys, vice president of global public policy for the International Council of Shopping Centers, a retail trade industry group.

“Everyone is trying to do something to be more sustainable,” Mr. Jeffreys said. “It requires a slight shift from how the industry has operated in the past.”

CBL’s properties under development will use various green building practices, Mr. Williamson said. The Pavilion at Port Orange, which opens next year near Daytona Beach, Fla., will have a system that reclaims air conditioning condensate to flush toilets, he said. A retention pond will provide water for irrigation, Mr. Williamson said, and the landscaping will include drought-tolerant plants.

Existing retail properties such as Hamilton Place mall won’t have extensive green modifications unless renovations are being done, Mr. Williamson said.

Mr. Williamson said he is just now starting to set benchmarks to learn how much green methods cost.

Green projects will be based on cost and local building code requirements, he said. Florida requires air-conditioning condensate to be reclaimed, so it didn’t cost much to use the reclaimed condensate to flush toilets, he said.

Sometimes building codes hamper efforts to make shopping centers more sustainable, Mr. Jeffreys said. General Growth Properties, which owns Northgate Mall, wanted to install waterless urinals in all of its malls nationwide, he said, but Atlanta and Chicago codes forbade the switch.

“There’s still a learning curve, but not just in this industry,” Mr. Jeffreys said. “If the consumer demands something it makes it easier for the developer and retail operator to provide it.”

Retailers can offer as many green initiatives as they want, Mr. Jeffreys said, but the practice can only net so much profit because most customers shop based on price.

The challenge is to find green practices that work economically, he said. Many large retailers are working with suppliers to reduce the use of cardboard boxes and other packaging materials to save money.

“That’s never seen by the consumer, but it has a big impact on recycling,” he said.