Green light ProLogis is investing millions of pounds in its green buildings. Managing director of global development Ken Hall talks to Noella Pio Kivlehan
Like the rest of the commercial property sector, shed developers have made significant strides in going green. Chief among them is ProLogis. Using its size and clout, the world’s largest industrial developer is aiming not only to try to save the planet, but to give tenants access to the latest green technological advances.
Three green jewels in the company’s crown are Sideway at Stoke-on-Trent Howbury, near Dartford in Kent and Pineham at Northampton.
Ken Hall, managing director of global development at ProLogis says: “Finding environmentally-friendly solutions for the construction industry is one of the greatest challenges of our times.”
Drive for change
Given that buildings and transportation account for 75% of the world’s energy consumption and resultant CO2 emissions which, in turn, account for the greatest proportion of greenhouse-gas production – a major cause of global warming and climate change – is one aspect driving the company’s strategy. In Europe alone, ProLogis is commissioning a new facility every 10 days.
“The design of large-scale distribution centres requires a few specialist suppliers and allows industrial developers to be much more responsive to the changing environment,” adds Hall.
ProLogis’s designs for Sideway and Howbury are all about daylight and the developer’s ongoing analytical improvement process, which has resulted in a roof-light area of up to 18% compared with the 10% industrial standard.
Meanwhile, the building at Pineham, which ProLogis is developing for Sainsbury’s, features innovative technologies and advanced environmental thinking on aspects such as air leakage and heating (see p28).
Light is one of the key factors in the design of Sideway. Hall says the benefits are a reduction in energy consumption: “You don’t need artificial lighting during daytime. Diffuse light is ideal for warehouses. It casts fewer shadows on the racking, reduces contrast and means less eye strain.”
The scheme, which is essentially a test bed for a renewable energy feature, will also include, subject to planning permission, wind turbines (see panel, p16).
At Howbury Park, near Dartford in Kent, ProLogis’s plans for 2.1m sq ft of warehousing, which have been the subject of a recent planning inquiry, will represent a step change in sustainable development.
One of the most important features of Howbury Park is that each warehouse is fully connected to the rail network and to an adjacent strategic railfreight interchange. Major users and logistics operators recognise the commercial, operational and environmental benefits of rail transport relative to road haulage.
In 1999, the government launched a sustainable distribution strategy, proposing a greener approach to distribution with increased use of railfreight. ProLogis is seeking to provide the first of a network of up to four interchanges around the M25 as identified by government research. These would also be available for the use of the wider business community.
Building designs for Howbury Park incorporate the latest advances in sustainable construction. Its four warehouses are “cable stay” structures, with external supports rather like a football stadium. This allows more efficient, usable space inside each building, enabling occupiers to rack, heat and sprinkler-fit each building more efficiently.
Other features include intensive green roofs, fully planted and visible, bordered by windows and cedar wood cladding (see drawings, left). Renewable energy sources also incorporate photovoltaic panels, although the CO2 saving represented by persuading customers to use the railfreight facility is around 16 times that of investing in photovoltaics.
Overall, when compared with a conventional shed, the proposals for Howbury will achieve energy reductions of 85% and water consumption in the offices by 20%.
It’s good to be global
By simultaneously investing in carbon-beneficial projects around the world, developers should be aiming beyond low-carbon, or carbon-neutral buildings, towards Planet Positive™ status. This means producing buildings that actually have a positive effect on the environment, society and business.
Hall says that such operations can lead to a reduction of greenhouse gases and continuous improvement in building design and performance. Also, where appropriate, renewable energy systems can be installed into the buildings, thus generating carbon credits on an ongoing, daily basis.
Within ProLogis, energy reduction comes first. “Only when satisfied that the best possible job in on-site energy reduction is achieved should offsetting be used to reduce the carbon footprint further,” says Hall. “And, carbon offsetting can be a very sophisticated method of investing in sustainable projects in developing countries and generally do some good.”
Industrial property developers could have access to all carbon trading markets simultaneously, creating carbon credits at the lowest cost, yet trading to customers at the highest market value.
For ProLogis, this is already in place. In the US, the company is a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange. In London it links with the European Carbon Exchange and in Asia, with local carbon markets. As a result, if carbon is created when constructing a shed in China, it can be worth almost four times as much when “imported” back into Europe.
Around the globe, ProLogis has pioneered energy-saving measures, from photovoltaic cells to wind turbines, from timber frames to impregnated pavements that absorb car emissions. The company approaches these add-ons with a mixture of enthusiasm and scepticism, preferring to hold judgment until meaningful measures and comparisons prove their usefulness.
Hall says the industry will be looking at the actions of the UK Green Building Council, of which ProLogis is a founding member. “The self-funded, industry-wide coalition for energy-efficient development looks for active commitment and support from ProLogis,” he says.
What’s next?
The council will encourage vital cross-sector data sharing inspire radical change, offer training and stage information-gathering events. It will help to shape the standards and testing mechanisms (such as BREEAM) and help to define sustainability in our industry.
Hall says that one activity which qualifies for a touch of green jargon is “futureproofing” the land. “Brownfield remediation begins a process of renewal that lasts far beyond the legacy of big sheds.
“Developers, especially in the UK, are pushing hard to integrate the latest ideas into their products and processes in an attempt to “futureproof” high-level sustainable performance.”
But small-scale, renewable energy techniques are no guarantee of a place in green heaven, and attempts to optimise the energy of a building is not necessarily the best starting point for a would-be sustainable developer. In Hall’s opinion, small-scale renewable energy techniques involving photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and biomass can be inefficient and may just represent the cherries on the cake.
“Consider the broader impact: many developers trade their buildings and thus their obligations for maintenance. But the bigger developers who are long-term owners of their buildings are bound by their promise of superior performance to customers,” he says.
For instance, ProLogis customers state what they want to achieve: close access to labour markets and to the road and rail network excellent communications, which are vital in order to reduce their CO2 footprint and, crucially, the flexibility to grow.
Massive savings in CO2 can be achieved by this verifiable savings which dwarf any carbon economies that can be achieved through building improvement.
Restoring the land
Finally, says Hall, there is the invaluable competence in brownfield remediation. Developers’ ability to clean up extensive derelict and otherwise unusable sites – especially in the land-strapped UK – brings undoubted benefit to forgotten communities. It is vital for developers to “restore the ability of the land for future generations”.
“Yesterday’s coking plant becomes today’s distribution park and – eventually – is declared clean enough to become tomorrow’s residential area or parkland. Of all our resources, the land is the most precious: our task as developers is to recycle, not to throw it away.
The long-term effects of bringing a new generation of employment to regions with a proud industrial heritage should not be underestimated.
Green features of Sideway, Stoke-on-Trent
ProLogis’s warehouse designs reduce its carbon footprint by up to 75%, compared with the industry average, according to engineering consultant Battle McCarthy, which compared Sideway with current building regulations.
Standard features include:
l Prefabrication By manufacturing construction items off-site, waste is reduced and a higher standard of construction is achieved. Reduction in embodied energy 30% pa
l Minimised air leakage A large proportion of energy is lost through the external fabric of a building. Building regulations stipulate a maximum of 10m3 per hr per m2 at 50Pa. Through careful detailing, ProLogis achieves a superior 3m3/hr/m2 at 50Pa 15% carbon reduction
l Low-energy fittings By specifying energy-efficient fittings and intelligent building management systems, costs can be reduced by 5% 2% carbon reduction
l Water savings Water can be saved by installing spray taps and low flush toilets. Rainwater is harvested for irrigation and grey-water usage Saving 143,346 litres pa = 30% off metered water costs
l Materials Working directly with manufacturers, ProLogis demands that materials are pre-cut to size, so minimising wastage on site. Local and recycled and/or recyclable materials are used where possible. Supply cost savings up to 10%
l An annual energy saving of 2.3m kWh (equivalent to more than 500 homes’ electricity consumption)
l Carbon reductions of 575 t CO2 pa(145 cars’ annual carbon emissions)
l Increased roof lights and solar panels
l Subject to planning permission, wind turbines may also be part of the equation.
l The site will be a live test-bed of renewable energy features, allowing ProLogis to publish its findings on the practicability of current technology. In association with Nottingham University, ProLogis will appoint an MSc and a PhD student to analyse all environmental data at Sideway and share it with the wider industry
Railfreight: better for the environment
The UK commitment to sustainable development
CO2 Per tonne carried, rail produces around 10% of the carbon dioxide produced by road transport
Energy efficiency Per tonne carried, rail uses around 20% of the energy used by road e_SClBEmissions Rail transport generates around 9% of the level of road transport emissions
Accidents The accident rate for rail transport is less than 0.5% the equivalent rate for road transport
The UK commitment to sustainable development
In its recent UK Energy Review, the government committed itself to consulting on measures to encourage carbon savings of 0.5 MtC pa by 2015 – rising to 1.2 MtC pa by 2020 from large non-energy-intensive business and public-sector organisations.
Organisations with annual electricity bills below around £250,000 are likely to be exempt.
This consultation, launched last November, identifies a range of options for achieving emissions savings:
l The Energy Performance Commitment – a mandatory cap and trade proposal
l A system of voluntary benchmarking and reporting
l Longer-term changes to building regulations
l Enhanced information and advice for businesses
l Industry-led agreements to reduce emissions.
The EPC is likely to go ahead in 2009 and will bring the property sector firmly into the carbon trading debate.
ProLogis Park, Chanteloup
ProLogis Park Chanteloup is an award-winning, 10-facility, 250,000m2 industrial park, located about 30km south of Paris.
The park, which opened in 2005, is one of the largest private-sector logistics parks in southern Europe.
Half of the park has now been completed with occupiers including Danone, the French Post Office and DPDJ International.
It received a 2005 Logistics Innovation Award at Europe’s International Week of Transportation & Logistics conference.
The park was conceived following the Environmental Quality certification requirements.
As such, it was designed with the goal of enhancing the lives of its users, occupiers and visitors. Amenities on site include conference facilities, a staff restaurant, a childcare centre and a banking centre.
The facilities also possess several environmentally-friendly features including:
l Photovoltaic solar panels that generate electricity
l Recharging stations for electric vehicles
l A rainwater-harvesting system that supplies water for park landscaping
On the park’s 40,000m2 Danone building, ProLogis has installed 20,000m2 of photovoltaic cells capable of generating about 20% of the park’s electricity requirements. The investment in the cells was made during 2006 and electricity production is expected to come on stream during this quarter.
The remainder of the development will be completed by the end of 2008.
