Warehouse
Everything You Need to Know About Green Warehousing
- Written by Kaleigh Moore
Warehouses are essential for many businesses; they keep the ecommerce industry running. At the same time, warehousing has a significant ecological footprint and environmental impact.
Here’s the thing: Data shows over 70% of industrial space in the United States was built before the 21st century, and around a third of those properties are now over 50 years old.
Whether you’re renting or buying a warehouse, this indicates a substantial opportunity for updates to modern "green" standards or replacement by newly-built green warehouses.
With Veeqo's recent research finding that 41% of businesses are wanting to focus on sustainability in 2024 (and a huge 80% of gen-z business owners), if yours is a sustainability-minded business looking to adopt green practices, green warehousing may be the answer. Here’s what you need to know.
What is green warehousing?
Green warehousing refers to environmentally-friendly practices initiated within a warehouse that’s set up to reduce carbon emissions and waste during operations.
It focuses on five main factors:
Sustainable construction methods: Designing and building warehouses with environmentally friendly resources and techniques that reduce the overall environmental impact.
Enhanced operational efficiency: Improving warehousing operations in a way that minimizes waste and optimizes resource use, contributing to overall eco-friendliness.
Energy-saving technologies: By enabling lower energy use, energy-saving technologies for inventory management, shipping, and more can play a crucial role in green warehousing.
Waste recycling: Employs systems to reuse or repurpose waste generated by the warehouse, reducing the volume of waste going to landfill and promoting a circular economy within the business.
Leveraging renewable energy sources: Wind or solar power can reduce a warehouse's greenhouse gas emissions significantly, making operations cleaner and more sustainable long-term.
Green warehousing aims to minimize the negative environmental impacts resulting from warehouse operations.
This approach not only benefits the environment, but also improves operational efficiency, reduces costs, and promotes a better corporate image.
Benefits of green warehousing
Reduction in carbon footprint
By implementing green warehousing practices such as using renewable energy sources and optimizing energy efficiency, warehouses can significantly reduce their carbon emissions.
There are numerous reasons for businesses to reduce their carbon footprints, including ethical considerations, regulatory compliance, and competitive advantages.
Is your business committed to a sustainable future? Reducing your carbon footprint via green warehousing is a tangible way of demonstrating that intent. It also helps businesses utilizing that space comply with current environmental regulations and prepare for future laws that may limit carbon emissions.
By being proactive, businesses can minimize the risk of potential fines or legal actions brought about by future regulations.
Cost and energy savings
Although there is an initial investment in green technologies, the long-term operational costs can be lower due to reduced energy consumption and waste production. This can actually result in more savings for your business over time.
Energy-efficient lighting, HVAC systems, and equipment in warehouses typically have lower maintenance requirements than traditional systems, resulting in more savings over the long term.
Many governments offer tax credits, rebates, and other incentives for businesses that invest in energy-efficient technologies.
Automation, optimized material handling equipment and efficient stock management can lower operational costs by improving the efficiency of warehouse operations. Using renewable energy sources, warehouses can also protect themselves from fossil fuel price volatility.
Customer attraction and retention
Modern consumers are increasingly environmentally conscious, and they favor companies that demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices.
Green warehouses can help build brand loyalty among this demographic. Shopify's Future of Commerce Trend Report highlights 44% of customers prefer buying from brands with a clear commitment to sustainability.
Green warehousing practices show customers that an ecommerce company is actively making efforts to reduce their environmental impact, which can build customer loyalty and boost the company's reputation.
Employee satisfaction
Working for an organization that prioritizes sustainability can improve employee satisfaction and morale, as many employees value environmentally responsible practices.
While some initial costs associated with transitioning to greener practices are inevitable, the long-term benefits, like energy savings and enhanced brand reputation, can result in a significant return on investment.
5 ways to adopt green warehousing for your business
Green warehousing requires commitment at every level of your organization. While there are several low-cost changes you can easily implement, such as recycling packaging materials, others require more investment.
Committing to sustainable construction or improved lighting will require sustained investment over a long period of time - and there’s the challenge.
In the longer term, however, adopting these changes will pay off in the form of lower energy costs and other benefits.
Let’s take a look at some smart strategies to adopt green warehousing.
1. Choose your warehouse location smartly
The choice of location for your green warehouse can significantly affect its environmental impact, cost, efficiency, and overall success.
From an energy efficiency perspective, the geographical location may impact the availability of natural resources. For instance, locations that receive significant amounts of sunlight might be optimal for using solar panels to power the warehouse.
Warehouses located closer to customers or vital transportation networks (like highways, ports, or railroads) would generally reduce transportation cost and associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Different regions have varying environmental standards and incentives. Keep in mind that some locations might offer tax benefits or grants for businesses that implement sustainable practices.
2. Design a sustainable space
Strategic warehouse design can significantly contribute to environmental sustainability by limiting the carbon footprint of the building.
This can be accomplished in several ways, but a good place to start is the infrastructure itself. That means constructing your warehouse using environmentally friendly building materials. Use materials that are renewable or have a low environmental impact.
Additionally, the warehouse design layout could incorporate natural ventilation and superior insulation to minimize energy losses.
Businesses should commit to harnessing renewable energy sources like solar panels to power their facilities and using eco-friendly construction materials. Implementing systems for rainwater infiltration can contribute to diminished water usage.
Intelligent storage optimization is another strategy for boosting warehouse efficiency. Storing products in a manner that maximizes space utilization can significantly enhance the productivity of the warehouse, ensuring every square footage of the facility is put to good use.
Green spaces within your warehouse design can serve multiple beneficial purposes. They help curtail energy usage, moderate indoor climate fluctuations and foster a pleasant, refreshing ambiance.
Additionally, green roofs, walls, and complimentary interior embellishments, can reduce your warehouse’s heating energy consumption by up to 5% during winter (in an uninsulated building) and lower cooling energy usage by as much as 33% during hot summers.
Beyond energy conservation, green spaces bolster ecological diversity by establishing habitats for wildlife and providing harmonious areas for workers to take breaks, enhancing employee satisfaction and productivity.
3. Upgrade warehouse lighting and ventilation
Ensuring safety in warehouses requires adequate illumination. Adopting environmentally conscious solutions, such as light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and automated systems, contributes to lower energy usage.
The high efficiency and precise directionality of LED lighting have made it a popular choice in the commercial and industrial spheres, not to mention the added benefits of their longevity and their ability to use at least 75% less energy.
Enhancing warehouse ventilation enhances operational efficiency as well. During colder months, heat rises, often leaving the work floor chilly, resulting in discomfort for employees.
This situation necessitates continued heating to achieve a comfortable ambient temperature.
By improving the ventilation system, the heat distribution can be optimized, maintaining consistent warmth and well-being for the workforce.
4. Use sustainable materials and recycling
Warehousing operations involve extensive use of packaging, which inevitably leads to substantial waste generated daily. In Veeqo's recent ecommerce trends report, they found that the second most popular way of sellers making their businesses more sustainable, was to reduce packaging.
Implementing a recycling initiative can facilitate proper disposal of packaging materials.
Consider repurposing pallets and storage components to further mitigate waste; it can also decrease your expenses. Additionally, diverting materials from landfills can mean lower disposal fees for your business.
Bring your supplier on board and collaborate with them to encourage the use of sustainable materials and recycling strategies across the supply chain.
Embrace technologies that conserve water and energy, such as energy-efficient lighting, water-saving plumbing fixtures, and proper insulation.
5. Automate and optimize transportation
Invest in warehouse management systems and automation technologies to streamline and optimize transportation.
This can help reduce the number of vehicles needed, minimize idle times and fuel consumption, and decrease carbon emissions.
Consider using eco-friendly vehicles, such as hybrids or electric trucks, for further environmental benefits.
Software like Veeqo also helps you optimize your product picking routes using bin locations, thus saving fuel, and it can also help you lower your return rate. Veeqo's software ensures a lower return rate by preventing both mispicks and misshipments via digital picking and the Veeqo Scanner.
The powerful suite of shipping tools not only allows business owners to set the bin locations for every single product, but the Veeqo Scanner has even helped one customer achieve "a 99.9% picking accuracy rate".
Another Veeqo seller, Mike Truffa from beauty retailer A1 Great Deals, invested in the Veeqo Scanner in 2023, and said “I personally use it [the Veeqo Scanner] religiously, I can’t live without it.”
Once you have your green warehouse set up, remember that automating some functions of warehouse management can go a long way toward energy efficiency as well. This is especially true for large businesses that may require management solutions for multiple warehouses.
The future of green warehousing
The warehousing industry is continuously evolving, and finding new ways to optimize operations and reduce environmental impact is the need of the hour. The Green Logistics Market report by Technavio predicts that the market will grow by USD 104.96 billion during 2021-2025.
Investing in green warehousing is evidently not just a conscientious choice but also a sound business decision. Transparent reporting of green efforts can boost the company's reputation and attract environmentally-conscious customers and partners.
These are some of the projected features of green warehouses of the future:
Green building practices
Local/regional sourcing of building materials
Recycling areas
Solar panels and other power-generation features
Skylights
Energy-efficient lighting
Climate-appropriate roofs and walls
Xeriscaping and drought-tolerant plants
Low-emitting paint
As sustainability and profitability increasingly align, green warehouses will evolve from being a trend to becoming an industry standard, reinforcing responsible operations that provide substantial cost savings and positive environmental impacts.
Sign-up to Veeqo today, for free, to create operational efficiencies and help to make your business more sustainable.
