As energy issues gather pace in the warehouse sector it seems reasonably clear that warehouse doors will demand more attention to comply with the Energy Act, 2011, applicable from 2018. Failure to acquire an energy proficiency certificate better than F or G, for example, could risk closure or other problems. So does that mean costly upgrades? Not necessarily and, moreover, improving a building’s thermal efficiency could yield remarkable payback periods. There is also less chance of missing out on future contracts if warehouse operators can show that they have an environmentally responsible attitude.

chazA major force in the industrial door industry, Hormann UK, finds that 3PL companies and retailers are looking to the property market to provide them with more thermally efficient and carbon friendly properties. It could, therefore, be more cost effective to deconstruct older stock and replace with new to comply with future environmental and sustainability standards.

To discover how much energy leakage there is in any loading bay area and the energy bill/carbon equivalent emissions one must begin with an energy audit. Fortunately, these can be obtained free of charge from leading door equipment suppliers or even downloaded from their web sites. But it is not enough just to know how much a loading bay area’s energy costs are. There should also be a survey of the whole loading bay operation, which should include the number of times doors open and close, how long they take to do so, their sizes, their accidental damage record and, not least perhaps, to what extent they have been superseded by far more efficient and cost effective models.

As with forklifts, similar type doors can vary significantly in their cost effectiveness but it is not just the product that must be assessed but also the after-sales service quality. This is why architects, builders and consultants should be avoided in preference for direct dealing with the equipment manufacturers because while the former may have all the technical specs of the various suppliers’ equipment they will know nothing of their after-sales reliability. All the leading door suppliers will arrange site visits to their existing clients’ premises for prospective clients who can then ask searching questions on product and after-sales service reliability.

To their credit, the more proactive door makers are ceaselessly looking to improve their doors environmental assets. Hormann, for example, have recently produced its Thermo SPU 67, a 67mm thick, double-skinned, steel sectional door with polyurethane infill to provide up to 55% less energy lost in commercial properties, compared with its earlier 42mm thick doors. To save even more energy, the entire door does not need to be opened if only pedestrians wish to use it because these doors can now be fitted with smaller ‘wicket’ doors.

The speed of fast-acting doors is also an important energy consideration. Most the these doors are no faster than 2 mt/sec for both opening and closing. Efaflex, however, have provided the drinks logistics company, trinks Sud, with 22 doors of various sizes with an opening and closing speed of up to 4 mt/sec and 1 mt/sec respectively to ensure the heat loss is minimal. There was, however, another advantage – suppression of noise emission owing to the strict noise regulations on the industrial estate. In food warehouses and manufacturing plants such very high operating speeds would also cut the risk of vermin ingress.

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