Energy

Limited Brands joined the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Leaders Program in September 2008. We officially established our baseline inventory in 2009 and set our greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal in June of 2010. Limited Brands has pledged to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions for United States operations by 3% from 2007 to 2014. We are committed to reducing our total GHG emissions through projects that improve efficiency and conserve energy and fossil fuels.

Since 2007, Limited Brands has been participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project by completing and submitting the annual corporate climate change questionnaire, the format in which participants document the carbon generated by their activities and operations as well as their climate strategy. You can find Limited Brands' most recent response to the Carbon Disclosure Project at: www.cdproject.net.

In an effort to reduce our energy consumption, Limited Brands has been rolling out numerous energy-efficient projects which have significant energy savings and pollution reduction associated with them. Recent lighting projects have reduced our store electricity consumption by 50,000,000 kWh annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 35,000 metric tons.

Our efforts in stores:

• In 2009/2010, we replaced more than 42,000 higher wattage light bulbs in approximately 900 stores with lower wattage, more efficient bulbs.
• Also in 2009/2010, we adjusted the temperature set points in a large number of stores to reduce air conditioning use during the day and even more so at night. 
• Building new stores with more efficient lighting technology, including highly-efficient ceramic metal halide (CMH) bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).

Our efforts in home offices and distribution centers:

• In 2010, Limited Brands' Bath & Body Works home headquarters received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) under the Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance (EB O&M) designation. Silver certification recognizes that Limited Brands has gone above and beyond the requirements needed for certification including: achieving significant improvements in energy efficiency and water use; developing and implementing programs to reduce waste sent to landfill; encouraging and facilitating sustainable purchasing practices; and improving the indoor environmental quality of the building.
• Replacing the existing roofs on four of our distribution center and home office buildings, combined, these highly efficient, reflective roof systems. The new roofing systems create a 15 percent reduction in energy consumption and costs per building. Within the next 5-7 years, we expect to replace one additional roof with this more efficient roofing product.
• In 2008, replaced the fluorescent lighting fixtures in five of our Columbus, Ohio, based distribution centers with more efficient lighting fixtures. We estimate that this project will reduce annual electricity consumption by nearly 9 million kWh and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately 9,700 metric tons. We expect to replace the interior lighting fixtures in four of our home office spaces within the next five years.

Transportation

The movement of freight around the world requires the use of fossil fuels. The use of ocean vessels is the most fuel-efficient means of transporting merchandise from overseas. We work with freight carriers to maximize the use of ocean vessels and minimize the use of air shipment. To complement this effort, we optimize cargo space by fully loading cargo containers bound for the United States.

Limited Brands is committed to:

• Utilizing the most efficient means of transportation that meets our delivery  needs and schedules.
• Utilizing highly efficient trailer stacking techniques to optimize the use of trailer space and reduce the number of trucks and amount of energy required to transport our merchandise to our distribution centers.

Limited Brands has been a partner in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership program since 2006. The SmartWay program works with shippers, freight carriers and logistics companies to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution caused by the transportation of goods. Limited Brands is working with the SmartWay program on several projects that have resulted in a reduction of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Limited Brands was awarded an Environmental Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay Transport Partnership in 2007 and 2009 for its leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from its transportation and freight activities.