From changing lightbulbs to replacing the doors, these are the best ways to save energy and money in your warehouse
Improving energy efficiency within your warehouse environment can bring a multitude of benefits to a company. Being able to boast green credentials can help improve your business's reputation, and could be just the thing to make you stand out a little from your competitors when it comes to attracting new customers. But perhaps the more immediate benefit has to be the financial implications. Saving energy ultimately saves you money, so it is something which all business should be striving for. The warehouse is a great place to start, as it's an area which, traditionally, uses a lot of energy - with lighting, heating, transport and packaging all taking place under one roof, and staff often working around the clock. Here are a few things to try to transform your warehouse into a greener working environment.
Give it the green light
Obviously your warehouse needs light. But there are a host of different ways to get that on the market, including natural light sources and extremely efficient bulbs. The simplest and most cost-effective way to reduce your lighting's energy consumption is to remove all of your older, inefficient light bulbs and replace them with LEDs (light emitting diodes). These can last up to ten times as long as traditional compact fluorescents.
If you want to take it a step further, look into installing skylights to make the most of the natural light. They may be a small initial outlay, but if you are able to reduce the amount of lights required at all times during the day, you're sure to make that money back.
Shut the door on heat loss
Are your warehouse doors looking past their best? Are they property insulated, or are you losing heat through the cracks as well as during opening and closing? Replacing the doors at entry points to your warehouse can make a vast difference to your energy consumption. There are doors available from companies such as Attenborough Industrial Doors which open and close at a rate of up to 1000mm per second, letting the minimum amount of heat escape when you need to enter the warehouse. They can be controlled by lever, remote or even motion sensor, making them extremely user friendly.
Stick to schedule
A schedule is key to ensuring that operations are running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. One thing that we would recommend paying particular attention to is your forklift trucks. Whilst they may never travel great distances, these trucks can build up quite a mileage over their lifetimes. Having a set schedule and sticking to it ensures that you know exactly what needs to go out when and helps you eliminate superfluous journeys. Also, try to encourage your drivers to switch the engine off whilst they are loading or unloading.
Waste not want not
Waste is one of the biggest problems for many business and needs to be tackled head-on if you really want to reduce your carbon footprint. You'll probably find that your warehouse produces a range of waste products, including packaging equipment, oils, chemicals and batteries. The easiest thing to do with these is to take them to a waste landfill, but it's not the most environmentally friendly option. Instead, your waste should be taken to separate recycling banks, or reused by your own company if possible to cut costs.
Keep it cosy
It's not just your door that can lose heat, but the rest of the building too. If your walls are poorly insulated, it could be costing you a fortune. Try upgrading to sprayed-foam insulation, which creates a sealed thermal layer, ensuring lower energy bills and more comfortable staff.
This blog was written by Attenborough Industrial Doors
