Amazon has incorporated a number of new features and upgrades into its newest Fresh grocery store in Seattle in a bid to secure net-zero carbon certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). One of the first upgrades shoppers will notice when they visit is the free electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lots. Inside, the changes aren’t as visible. The store uses CO2-based refrigerant instead of artificial refrigerant, which Amazon says reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 38 metric tons per year.
Its floor looks like standard concrete, but it actually uses recycled materials from the steel industries. Amazon says doing so reduced the store’s carbon footprint more than any of its other initiatives and lowered the carbon associated with floor manufacturing and installation by 40 percent compared to standard concrete.
In the kitchen, everything has been…
