ALDI wanted a convenient location in Alexandria, Virginia. ALDI selected an urban, pedestrian-friendly site on Duke Street.

The City of Alexandria sits just minutes south of the District of Columbia. Like many cities, Alexandria strives lengths to preserve its history, while meeting the needs of modern culture. The city mandates site requirements and building standards for businesses in the jurisdiction. The design team was challenged to design a store that fit the city’s architectural landscape and exceeded the city’s sustainable regulations.

To exceed Alexandria’s environmental requirements, ALDI chose to pursue Green Globes® certification. Green Globes includes ENERGY STAR, which has a specific category for supermarkets. This is crucial as grocery stores face unique challenges related to their heavy refrigeration loads.

Green Globes buildings go through a rigorous third-party endorsement process and are certified on a scale from one-to-four Green Globes, four being the highest level of sustainable achievement. The store is ALDI’s first three Green Globes building—certifying that the building meets sustainable goals in energy, water, materials, resources, emissions, and indoor environments.

The team achieved Green Globes status for the 17,132 square foot store through sustainable features, including:

• A 40 kilowatt solar-array roof that will generate an estimated 40,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually—enough electricity to power three, single-family homes per year.
• Whole building commissioning, meaning that all building systems—from the building envelope and structural systems to the HVAC and communication systems—were tested for maximum efficiency.
• An ENERGY STAR design score of 92, resulting in potential energy efficiencies.

The building is unique to ALDI’s portfolio. The location has a custom exterior and custom floor plan, a two-story full-glass entryway, and an upgraded interior graphics package. It also has brick and glass architectural details to support ALDI’s brand, while meeting the city’s aesthetic requirements.

ALDI is an international grocer that provides consumers with products that are “impressively high-quality at impossibly low prices.” Since the beginning of ms consultants’ partnership with ALDI in 2008, ms has completed projects in 280 cities across 21 states.