Discarded DVD players, castoff bicycles, and filtered lake silt are among the unconventional materials that make up Puma’s first-ever “sustainable store,” one that the activewear giant hails as a revolution in the concept of retail spaces. Opened in a suburb in Bangalore, India on Thursday, the 8,600-square-foot building features a highly insulated shell that allows for cooling without air-conditioning. In addition to recessed ceilings, which facilitate the “stack effect” for natural cooling, an underground heat-sink system maintains temperatures at a constant 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) throughout the year. To shield the building from direct heat from above, the store boasts a rooftop garden.

GREEN STORE

Neither energy-efficient lighting nor occupancy sensors were enough for Puma. More than 90 percent of the interior has direct access to natural light. For its other needs, the 100 percent solar-powered store relies on a phalanx of photovoltaic cells, enough to generate 10,384 kwh units of energy a year.

Completely solar-powered, the store’s photovoltaic cells generates 10,384 kwh units of energy a year 

The store’s architects clad their creation in recycled steel from old electronics, bicycles, and tiffin boxes, along with porotherm blocks made using waste from the annual desilting of the lakes in Kunigal. For its furniture and fixtures, the company opted for recycled wood, plus low volatile-organic-compound paint for the walls.

But the store’s green credentials are more than skin deep. The space will retail a range of products made from organic cotton, as well as Puma’s “Wilderness Collection,” a line of apparel, footwear, and accessories primarily sourced and manufactured in Kenya from sustainable materials.

“Puma is happy to take this pioneering step forward for the retail industry,” says Franz Koch, the company’s CEO. “Establishing a sustainable Puma Store underlines our commitment to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, energy, water and waste in Puma offices, stores, warehouses and direct supplier factories by 2015.”