How to Convert Your Warehouse into a More Sustainable Facility

Designing a sustainable warehouse is an excellent way to stay ahead of the competition. Moreover, sustainable warehousing can help reduce energy costs and improve efficiency.

There are various methods of making your warehouse eco-friendly. One of the most vital factors is the cost because some elements of the sustainable warehouse model can be expensive. Therefore, adopting small changes to convert your warehouse into a sustainable facility can make a big difference.

Cut Down Energy Consumption

If you have a metallic warehouse, insulating it can be a massive step to achieve sustainability. Without insulation, metal pulls away heat in winter and draws it in during summer.

Upgrading windows and doors with suitable insulation balances temperature in your facility, reducing the energy amounts required for climate regulation. Steady temperatures maintain consistency in the warehouse throughout the day, allowing you to save heating and cooling costs. Proper warehouse insulation can help control humidity levels.

Warehouses consume considerable energy amounts through lighting, IT appliances, and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning). Data shows that space heating and light consume up to 76% of energy in warehouses, which increases energy bills.

Another research suggests that energy expenses represent 60% of running budgets for refrigerated warehouses and 15% for their non-refrigerated counterparts. To save energy in a warehouse facility, consider:

• Switching off appliances when not in use. If you do not switch them off, they keep on consuming energy which escalates costs.
• Adopt efficient lighting. Find out whether your facility is compatible with networked lighting controls, skylights, or LED lighting. Using efficient lighting can help you reduce energy consumption in your facility, helping you save up to 75% of your present energy consumption.
• Adopt an enterprise energy management system. You can use the system to determine and optimize energy consumption in your warehouse. It also checks costs and determines irregularities to help cut down energy consumption and costs.

Recycle and Reuse

Instead of discarding single-use packaging such as plastic wrap, work with recycling companies to have it recycled. Various recycling companies deal with warehouse and industrial recycling. They can recycle a wide range of packaging materials.

Often, warehouse facilities can generate money from gathering and recycling plastic waste. Your warehouse facility can adopt a packaging return plan where customers send back used packages for recycling. Such a plan helps you reuse or reduce materials in stock accordingly.

While warehouses consume massive resources to handle and prepare goods, their sustainability is essential and feasible. Warehouse managers can adopt these eco-friendly policies to reduce operating costs and save money.

Sweet Tips from Ally:

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, here are a few more reasons to transform your warehouse into a sustainable facility:

1. Improved brand image and employee morale
2. Attract new employees and investors
3. Better machine efficiency and more independence