Energy Efficiency In Boston’s Warehousing And Distribution Centers – Warehouses are decidedly unattractive buildings, as online shopping has accelerated the rise of e-commerce, sparking a frenzy of purchasing and construction of boxy, low-rise buildings, driving up rents and increasing profits for investors. and distribution centers have been in the spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic. .

In the less regulated United States, developers still lag behind their European counterparts in building sustainable warehouses and distribution centers with buildings that rely too heavily on fossil fuels. Experts say another reason for the disparity is leases that can prevent spending on building improvements that could curb energy use.

Energy Efficiency In Boston’s Warehousing And Distribution Centers

But U.S. companies are beginning to take steps to make their warehouses more energy efficient, including upgrading construction materials. Some warehouse owners are also converting their rooftops into solar farms to power building operations and often reduce utility costs for nearby homeowners and businesses.

Amid Soaring Demand For Warehouses, An Effort To Make Them Greener

Progress is expected to accelerate as more community solar programs are rolled out and local governments set more ambitious decarbonization targets.

“This is the beginning of a wave,” said Brian M. Lamont, senior vice president of capital and construction management at STAG Industrial, a Boston real estate investment trust with a large warehouse portfolio.

Experts say change is urgent. Approximately 40% of the greenhouse gases warming the planet come from buildings, with carbon dioxide emissions coming from both construction and operations.

Warehouses and distribution centers appear to be easier to make environmentally friendly facilities than other real estate properties because they typically have large, open interiors dedicated to warehousing and less square footage dedicated to office functions. Many require less energy to operate than highly occupied buildings such as office buildings and hotels.

Fossil Fuel Phase Out

“The path to decarbonization is getting shallower,” said Christopher Babatorp, associate director of real estate at London-based forecasting firm Oxford Economics.

A new generation of net-zero warehouses is starting to open across Europe, where building codes and environmental regulations are stricter and more uniform than in the United States.

But the bigger problem is that many existing warehouses are not built to the highest standards. More than 70% of industrial land in the United States was built before the 21st century, and one-third of the inventory is more than 50 years old, according to a report from real estate firm Newmark.

Making these buildings more environmentally friendly means, among other things, ensuring better insulation, replacing outdated lighting with LEDs, and upgrading HVAC systems.

Commercial Buildings Factsheet

Lease agreements often discourage such investments, experts say. In an office building, the landlord typically rents out to multiple tenants and manages the building’s operations. When owners invest in reducing energy usage, operating costs decrease and profits are realized. However, in the case of warehouses, owners typically rent to a single tenant under an arrangement called a triple-net lease, and the occupier, rather than the owner, is responsible for maintenance and operations.

Brianna Wheeler, U.S. director of operations for BRE, the British building science center that manages the global sustainability certification program that some warehouse owners follow, said owners are “not very hands-on.” Told.

As a result, both tenants and landlords were not particularly motivated to invest in buildings. Tenants don’t want to spend money on someone else’s property, and owners are reluctant to save energy because it primarily benefits tenants.

Esreidi Kavada, a teacher in Avenel, New Jersey, said her monthly electricity bill has gone down since she participated in a local solar landscape program. Credit… Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

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To address this situation, so-called green leases have emerged in recent years. These leases encourage landlords and tenants to share information about things like energy use in their buildings, and in some cases lead to collaboration on renovation projects.

Improvements are also quickly becoming necessary as building performance standards such as carbon reduction mandates gain momentum and owners who don’t comply can face fines, experts say. says. Additionally, greener warehouses may become more attractive to companies looking to meet environmental goals.

In situations where energy costs are high and warehouse roofs are strong, some owners and tenants are installing solar arrays to power building operations. A growing number of states are requiring warehouses to be built with “solar-ready” roofs that allow for the installation of solar panels from the start.

However, a solar installation sufficient to operate a warehouse may often take up only a small portion of a large, unobstructed space.

U.s. Grid Energy Storage Factsheet

This is where community solar power generation comes into play. So far, 21 states and the District of Columbia have community solar programs, most of which are created to benefit low- and moderate-income utility customers.

Under this program, a solar power developer leases a warehouse roof from a building owner and piggybacks on the homeowner’s assets to install and operate a solar power system. Power from the rooftop system is fed into the local power grid, making it cleaner and reducing bills for customers enrolled in community solar power programs.

For example, Solar Landscape, a community solar development company, installed solar panels and enrolled subscribers at his four warehouses owned by Duke Realty in northern New Jersey. One of those girls is Esreidi Cabada, a kindergarten teacher and mother of her three children in Avenel, New Jersey, who has seen her monthly electricity bill go up after participating in her community’s community solar power program. He said it went down.

Ms. Cavada said there is no cost to her to participate in the program. Currently, she receives two bills each month. One from a public service electric and gas company and her other one from Solar Landscape. But the total cost is now less than what I was paying before.

A Robot For The Worst Job In The Warehouse

Because rooftop solar projects are largely invisible, they don’t tend to provoke the same opposition that ground-based solar farms do. Credit… Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

“I’m saving money,” she said, adding that she also feels good because she’s “contributing to helping the planet.”

Community rooftop projects like the one Kavada subscribes to have other benefits. Because it’s in a largely hidden location, it’s less likely to arouse opposition like above-ground solar power plants.

Additionally, the warehouse itself is already connected to the electricity grid and located close to the customers who will benefit.

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“If you think of a distribution center as a building for shipping goods, its size and location also makes it a very natural place to provide power,” said Drew, CEO of consultant Black Bear Energy. Tobin said. A real estate company based in Boulder, Colorado.

Black Bear helped STAG Industrial launch what is said to be the nation’s largest rooftop community solar power project at a warehouse it owns in Hampstead, Maryland. The trust leases a 1.1 million square foot building to Penguin’s Random House. It is used to store and ship Marvel Comics products, and its 23-acre roof goes to Summit Ridge Energy, a solar power development company in Arlington, Virginia.

The Summit Ridge solar facility can generate 9.2 megawatts of electricity, adding renewable energy to the grid and serving approximately 1,300 homes in the local utility’s service area, which includes Baltimore and 10 Maryland counties. Reduce your company’s utility costs.

“These are mini power plants,” said Steve Rader, CEO of Summit Ridge. Summit Ridge has completed 13 community solar projects on warehouse rooftops and plans to complete 24 more this year.

Thermophotovoltaic Efficiency Of 40%

STAG, which acquired the building in 2013, has not yet replaced the existing lighting and air conditioning systems because they are still in working order, Lamont said. And despite transmitting solar power to its subscribers, the warehouse, built in 2000, runs off the grid rather than a rooftop array.

Still, Tobin said community solar projects are far more successful than smaller solar installations that only power buildings. “We’re making the most of the roof,” he said.

A version of this article is printed in Section B, page 5 of the New York edition under the heading “Putting Warehouses on the Green Pass.” Order Reprints | Today’s Newspaper | Subscribe Environmental Health Electrification Risks from Inefficient Lighting Long-Term Fossil Fuels New Study Finds How to Minimize the Burden on U.S. Power Grid During Peak Electricity Usage from Winter Heating shows that decarbonization pathways need to incorporate more efficient electric heating technologies and more renewable energy sources.

Direct fossil fuel consumption from lighting equipment used in water heaters, furnaces, and other heat sources accounts for nearly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to electricity systems that power heating with renewable energy sources rather than coal, oil or natural gas – a process known as Ilding electrification or Ilding decarbonisation – will help meet global net-zero climate goals. This is an important step towards achieving this goal.

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However, most lighting decarbonization models do not account for seasonal variations in energy demand for heating or cooling. For this reason, it is difficult to predict how the eventual switch of lighting equipment to cleaner all-electric heating will impact the nation’s power grid, especially during peak energy use times.

A new study by researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (SPH) and Harvard T.H. chan public school

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