The pressing need to conserve resources and energy has prompted many large companies to rethink their engineering strategies. One such company—the retail conglomerate Wal-Mart—has recently opened an experimental store in McKinney, Texas, that integrates an array of experimental "green" technologies and conservation methods. These technologies and methods have been incorporated into nearly every facet of the construction and operation of the facility and have even found a place in the area surrounding the store. Wal-Mart decided to build the store in an effort to better understand green technologies and how to apply them to its chain of large retail buildings— dubbed big boxes by those who design and build them. Data will be collected from the building's wide variety of technologies over a three-year period. At the end of this period, Wal-Mart researchers and consultants will analyze the data and decide which of the methods to include in future stores.
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