Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/704526
22 FEDA News & Views Every one of us has been inundated with the green movement. Clean die- sel, hybrid, solar panels, oh my. We are seeing products from our manufacturer partners claiming to address the ener- gy-friendly environment of this decade. Many of these products are nothing more than the same items with a new market- ing scheme. If they can fetch another nickel or two, who are we to complain? With many building sites shooting for the coveted Leeds designation, we will be seeing more and more products repo- sitioning themselves as environmentally friendly. The real question of the day is how green are we? Many of us would like to fi nd ways to improve our conserva- tion practices but we have to weigh the practical applications in a distribution environment. The distributors I speak to are interested in doing something. The problem begins with time. How do we carve out the time to come up with a plan to make our company more energy effi cient and environmentally conscious? Where do we begin and who has the time to do the research? As I travel around the country, I have the opportunity to view several differ- ent distributor operations. I have noted many interesting energy-saving ideas, particularly around lighting, plumbing and HVAC. Many of them used sensor technology to monitor usage. The key is that these are not expensive new tech- nologies. Many of the items have been available for the past decade. They have fi nally become mainstream enough for the investment to be reasonable. The most obvious area is to look at your lighting usage. I have a client who recently changed the lighting in his 60,000-square-foot warehouse. He was using the old high bay lights, the ones that seem to take forever to warm up and many of us have in our buildings. He replaced them with higher effi cien- cy fl uorescent lighting. In addition, he put motion sensors on the rows that receive less traffi c. By the way, adding sensors to your bathrooms and other infrequently occupied rooms works very well. Essentially, his slower-moving rows are only lit when someone is working in them. He fi gures that they will reduce their energy consumption enough to pay for the upgrade in a few months. Now there is little green for you. Take a look at the plumbing side of the facility. Do we still need faucets that manually turn on and off? I have seen a few distributors add motion sensors to the bathroom faucets and other fi xtures to help monitor water fl ow and promote a cleaner workplace. Again, none of this stuff is bleeding-edge technology. Most contractors are very familiar with these devices. Heating and air conditioning make up a signifi cant part of your energy bill. Where can you make changes to reduce usage? Is your offi ce area properly insu- lated? Think of that offi ce like your home. Are your windows up to par? Many of us are still living with old single- pane or poorly hung windows. Think of the escaping AC dollars blowing out the window. What about the ineffi ciencies associ- ated with branch transfers? Take a hard look at how you are operating your own fl eet of vehicles. Are you running the most effi cient routes possible? Years ago, my company began running night deliv- eries. The highways were free of conges- tion and we were able to cover more ground in a shorter period of time. Think about your delivery vehicle stuck in traf- fi c around 3 p.m. today. How much fuel, and time, are they wasting? BUILDING AN ENERGY REDUCTION PLAN By Jason Bader, Principal The Distribution Team jason@distributionteam.com