Let’s face it: we all want to make our facilities more energy-efficient. The problem is, many times we don’t have the budget to make major changes that can affect our facility’s energy consumption. So what can we do during belt-tightening times that will still have an impact on reducing our carbon footprints (not to mention our energy bills)?
As the saying goes, start by picking the “low-hanging fruit.” These are the things that require the least amount of effort to do, and can still make a difference. Here are some quick fixes that can help increase energy efficiency at the loading dock.
Save your doors. Every time your dock door is damaged, it lets more and more energy escape around it. If you don’t have the budget for a new set of dock doors, you can at least add a flexible bottom door panel to help prevent dock door damage and save energy.
Seal up your levelers. If you’ve got pit-style dock levelers at your facility, you could be letting your temperature-controlled air right out of the dock. Rather than filling in the pits or replacing all of your levelers, you can install a seal around the leveler perimeter to prevent air from escaping or infiltrating.
In a perfect world, we would outfit our warehouses with the top-of-the-line insulated doors, HVLS fans and Yard Management Systems to cut down on idling trailers in the yard. But, until your company provides you with the budget to do these things, there’s no use just waiting around and wasting more energy at your facility. By installing these simple, inexpensive and effective products, you can pick off the low-hanging fruit that will make a difference to your company’s bottom line.