Ikea's Dartmouth Crossing store to be most sustainable location in Canada

When Ikea's Nova Scotiastore opens next year, it will be the company's most sustainable building in Canada.

The company announced the building's expectedenvironmental features at a ground-breaking ceremony at Dartmouth Crossing Tuesday.

Those features will include:

• Rooftop solar panels to generate electricity.
• A solar wall inside, which will use passive solar energy to heat air movingbehind the wall.
• Geothermal energy for half of the building's heating and cooling needs.
• A living wall of plants to help purify the air in the building.
• 100 per centLED lighting.
• At least 85 per centof waste would be diverted from the landfill to recycling plants.
• A free batteries and light bulbs return service.
• Two electric vehicle recharging stations.

A lot of applications

Ikeaintends to hire 300 people, half of them fulltime, for which the company has received more then 1,500 applications already, company vice-president David McCabe said at the ceremony.

"The response has been amazing," he said.

All employees, whether full or part time, will receive benefits, he said.

• How Ikea is benefiting Dartmouth Crossing, before it brokeground

Catalogues coming this month

Construction to build the330,000-square-footstore is expected to take 14 to16 months, opening in the fall of 2017, the company said.

But starting later this month, the company will deliver 154,000 catalogues in the Halifax area.

'One big step closer'

The company says customers will be able to pick up orders at a Halifax-area collection point for a lower cost, until the Dartmouth store is open.

"It's a great day for the municipality," HalifaxMayor Mike Savage said at the ceremony.

"People are eager for the doors to be open. Today we are one big step closer."

• Why Ikea returned to Nova Scotia 28 years after closing shop