New Lidl store in Maynooth to be Ireland's first net-zero supermarket
Lidl has announced the building of Ireland's first net-zero energy supermarket in Maynooth, as the retail giant seeks to wipe out its emissions completely by 2050.
Construction has already begun on the state-of-the-art store, which will use concrete made from 50% recycled materials, as well as glulam timber roof beams and sustainable carbon roof panels. Additionally, stone from Lidl's original Maynooth location will be reused in parts of the new construction.
'When we joined the Irish retail market 25 years ago, we transformed shopping behaviour," said Lidl Ireland CEO Robert Ryan.
"With this investment, we are once again leading the way—bringing to life our commitment to achieving Net Zero for our customers and enhancing the sustainable credentials of the Irish retail industry."
With the new build, Lidl is hoping to secure the coveted Outstanding rating from the Irish Green Building Council. The retail giant has already committed to cutting its operational emissions by 46% in the next five years, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero by 2050 in mind.
According to Irish Green Building Council CEO Pat Barry, the store marks "a new era for sustainable retail, combining innovation in store design, renewable energy, and carbon reduction for both operational and embodied carbon."
It is an excellent case study that will help guide sustainable construction in Ireland in light of upcoming changes to European legislation for Zero emissions buildings measured across their full life," he continued.
'The development of our Net Zero Energy store is the next step in our sustainability journey," said Ryan. "More than just a supermarket, this store will serve as a test bed for sustainable innovations—helping us identify scalable improvements that can be rolled out across our entire network to deliver greater energy and carbon savings.'
When opened, the new store will provide six electric vehicle charging points for shoppers, each of which will run off renewable energy. In addition, 12 e-bike and scooter chargers will be installed on the premises, as well as enhanced on-site cycle parking.
The project also bolsters Lidl's reputation as owners of the largest rooftop solar panel array in the country, with two 575 kwp panels to be installed on the location's roof and in its car park.
The store will also differ from other Lidl locations visually, with plant boxes installed on the roof and a 'living wall' feature inside. Some of the location's fixtures will also raise awareness of biodiversity, such as its planned 'Ecological Community Garden', complete with bird boxes, native plants and log piles to attract insects.
Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy Darragh O'Brien praised the build as "innovative".
I commend the entire team at Lidl for their vision," he said whilst visiting the construction site, "demonstrating that economic growth and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand.'
Waste was kept to a minimum during the dismantling of the previous store - with local primary schools receiving bird boxes and insect hotels crafted from the old location's roof. Community association ACRE were also involved, repurposing soil from the previous site and using old fencing to build chicken coops.
Overall, the energy saved by the project is equivalent to the energy consumed by 40 average Irish households. The carbon saved by the construction is also equivalent to 1,500 annual flights from Ireland to Spain.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
PSG could move to new city as statement released after ‘90,000-seater stadium' wins local approval
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN could move to a new city and build a new $1billion stadium. The French giants are keen to expand and local authorities could prevent an upgrade to their current ground, the Parc des Princes. 1 PSG have located two potential sites to build a new stadium Credit: AFP PSG do not own the Parc des Princes and pay £1.5million a year in rent to Paris City Hall. Club owners Qatar Sports Investments wanted to undertake an expansion of the stadium that could have cost up to £370million - but only if they could become owners of the site, per A PSG statement emphasised the importance of owning the stadium in maintaining the club's growth, but they estimate a decision on the site will not be made until autumn 2026. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed the sale of the site is not currently an option, and that led READ MORE IN FOOTBALL The final locations are Massy, which is south of Paris and Poissy to the west, where PSG train at their Campus ground. The statement outlines that the club do not prefer one option over the other, but there is already a plan in place for Poissy. PSG have picked out a plot of land that could be suitable for a 90,000 capacity stadium. The project could exceed £740million and would be situated on a site owned by automotive giant Stellantis, according to Most read in Football BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS As well as a stadium, PSG want to build a real estate project based on models used internationally, particularly in American arenas like the SoFi stadium. A PSG source told Lemonde: "We take note and we must move forward with the other options. PSG hold Victory Parade following Champions League win against Inter Milan "Owning your stadium is not a whim or a simple posture: the big European teams operate with this model. "The economic competitiveness of the recent winner of the Champions League depends on it, she assures. "If tomorrow the Parc des Princes is saleable, we will see if we include it in our options. But I imagine that it will not change before the municipal elections."
Irish Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Biggest week of all' for Casement Park as funding announcement imminent
GAA president Jarlath Burns has said this is the 'biggest week of all' for the Casement Park project as he awaits news of British Government funding for the project. The home of Antrim GAA has been shut since 2013 amid numerous hold-ups around planning and funding, with the opportunity to host games in Euro 2028 having now passed. The Stormont Executive has pledged £62.5m (€74m) towards the project, while the Irish Government will stump up £43m (€51m) to go along with the GAA's £15m (€18m) - but that is a long way short of the total required to complete the development with costs having spiralled and British Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce what contribution her government is prepared to make towards the shortfall. "This is a big week for it,' said Burns. 'This is the biggest week of all. We keep saying the next few weeks are crucial, but I think tomorrow we're going to hear the spending review. 'As it stands now, I don't know what decision has been made by the British Government as to what they are going to give. And I hope it's generous because it's something that we would really like to see moving on.' There will likely be pressure applied for the GAA to up its contribution but Burns said: "Well, not if the British Government decide that they are going to fund it all. That would be a great situation for us. 'So we don't know what they are going to give. We don't know then what inflationary uplift the Northern Ireland Executive is going to give. That would be between the two government parties. 'But we will then just take it from there. We will then have our own decisions to make, yes. But we are very committed to getting this stadium. 'Clones is wonderful. It's a fantastic stadium, a very quaint stadium. But we all know that for this modern era, we need to have a modern stadium where people can go and they can watch the games in comfort and enjoy it. 'If you look at the Ulster final, for example, you had Armagh, Donegal in the ladies' game, I think it was at 1 o'clock. And our game was maybe at 5 o'clock. "It's a long, long sit for people when you don't have the capacity for food and water runs out and the toileting situation, all of that. So we really just want to modernise and Casement Park is our best opportunity for that.'
Irish Examiner
42 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Rent pressure zones have 'discouraged' the supply of new homes, Dáil committee told
Rent pressure zones are 'not a good system' and have 'discouraged" the supply of new homes, an Oireachtas committee has heard. Members of the Housing Commission — whose landmark report on recommendations to fix Ireland's housing crisis was published over 12 months ago — also told the Oireachtas housing committee on Tuesday there had been a 'lack of emergency thinking and action' since its report came out. The Housing Commission was established in January 2022 as an independent body to examine Ireland's housing system and to make recommendations to shape long-term policy. This commission was made of representatives from across the housing sector, including developers and those delivering housing on the ground, and found Ireland's housing system has 'fundamentally systemic' failures. It made a slew of recommendations for a new approach to the housing sector to meet the needs of the Irish public, estimating there was an underlying undersupply of over a quarter of a million homes in the country. Since its publication, some members have been critical of what it called State inaction on taking up its recommendations. The Government has hit back at this, however, and insisted it was implementing the report. The appearance of Housing Commission members at the Oireachtas committee on Tuesday coincided with the Government publishing its controversial plans to reform the rental sector and its rent pressure zones. UCD professor of social policy Michelle Norris told the committee the commission proposed a 'comprehensive reform' of the system of rent pressure zones that had been 'introduced as an emergency measure in 2016 to regulate private rents and was never intended to be in place over the long term'. 'We propose replacing the RPZs with the reference rent system used to regulate rents in many other European countries," she said. Trinity College's Dr Ronan Lyons said, from the new Government proposals, vacancy de-control seemed to be the most important. This is where landlords would be able to set market rates for a property if a tenant moved out. Meanwhile, Michael O'Flynn, chief executive of the construction firm O'Flynn Group, said during covid-19 there was a highly coordinated approach across Government and they were similarly dealing with a housing 'emergency' now. 'Unfortunately, this approach has not been taken into the housing crisis, and the result is it's getting more and more challenging,' he said. 'The Housing Commission was a very serious attempt to provide a framework for Government to deal with the crisis in a holistic way. "It provided a strategic approach which, if adopted, would over the medium term, deal with the serious backlog of over 300,000 homes.' Read More Government yet again tinkering around the edges of the housing crisis with rent pressure zone plans
