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Marks & Spencer will next month open its greenest store which is being built from scratch using bricks reclaimed from an old local mill and FSC certified timber as part of its plan to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015.

Even the aggregate from the building site has been recycled into the store's foundations and back-fill walls, which means that no construction waste has gone to landfill, while the floors are polished concrete, reducing the need for additional materials.

The Sheffield-based Simply Food store will cost three to four per cent more than the traditional Simply Food format, but Marks & Spencer is confident that the incremental build costs will be recouped early over the lifetime of the store.

The store, which will be lit by natural light, has incorporated rainwater collection systems which will be used to flush toilets and irrigate its 'living wall', which comprises pre-planted modular panels attached directly to the building and encourages native wildlife into the area.

Marks & Spencer believes this initiative will reduce overall water supply costs by up to 40 per cent, while using expelled heat from its refrigeration units will reduce carbon outputs by 23 per cent.

In a further effort to promote biodiversity in the area, Marks & Spencer is also introducing a sedum roof, bird boxes around the perimeter wall and planting 62 different types of plants on or around the store.

Even the car park will get a green makeover, with electric car charging points and sustainable cycle shelters to encourage eco-friendly travel.

Clem Constantine, director of property and store development, described each of the sustainable features as 'remarkable' in their own right, but added: 'By bringing them together in one development, something that is rarely done by retailers, we will achieve a whole that is worth far more than the sum of its parts.'

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