Prologis considers sustainability of crucial importance. It is our aim to fulfill our social responsibility, minimize the environmental impact of our buildings and optimize benefits for our customers. This includes providing high-quality, energy-efficient logistics facilities that increase municipal sustainability and reduce operating costs for our customers at the same time.
That is exactly what we did in 2016 for our logistics facilities in Krefeld, Germany, where we installed a new ventilation system with heat recovery and made technical modifications to the radiant tube heaters. We measured significant savings the following year: Heating costs dropped about 40 percent, and we reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 78.5 metric tons—the equivalent to approximately 45 flights from Munich to New York.
Prologis collaborated with select partners to implement the following measures in Krefeld:
- Retrofitting an exhaust gas heat recovery system
- Replacing burners
- Refreshing sheet metal heat deflectors
- Optimizing the control system
- Reducing exhaust gas systems
- Introducing fresh air intake or recirculating air operation for heat exchangers
In Germany, we develop all of our new facilities according to the standards of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). Our properties in Cologne-Eifeltor, Hamburg-Hausbruch and Munich-Neufahrn have all been awarded DGNB gold certificates. Prologis has also been recognized repeatedly as one of the most sustainable companies in the world. Canadian company Corporate Knights has included Prologis in its annual index of Global 100 most sustainable companies since 2005.
Our measurements in various European countries show that investing in the renovation of logistics facilities to create more energy-efficient operations pay off in the short and long term. The Prologis property management team has installed smart meters in numerous facilities, which monitor a property’s energy consumption in real time to enable customers to adapt their energy use. The monitoring system also offers helpful tips. For example, customers can see how much a thermostat difference of just 1 degree Celsius can affect consumption.
Prologis also equipped the first logistics facilities in other European countries with additional sensors, which provide users with detailed insights into carbon dioxide emissions, particulate pollution, air humidity and temperature. These systems help achieve our goal of improving the environmental impact of our properties and also contribute to the well-being of employees who work in our facilities.
