Understandably there is a lot of focus on environmental sustainability for modern businesses. In the past large facilities like warehouses and retail centers were not necessarily designed with these concerns in mind, but there is plenty that can be done with modern construction and retrofitting to reduce carbon footprints and promote the health of nearby ecosystems.
Consider these tips from our team at DMW&H to address climate change and environmental degradation.
ADVANTAGES ABOUND
With the push towards a more climate-conscious society, there is good news for business owners. Federal, state, and even local governments have put policies in place incentivizing companies to pursue the development of things like green infrastructure and other climate-friendly technology.
These incentives come in the form of tax breaks for new projects, special municipal regulations, or cash dollars from state or federal grants. These opportunities abound not just for new construction projects, but also retrofits of existing buildings and spaces.
Some basic internet sleuthing, or a call with a local environmental representative, should give you a good idea of the number of projects that can be pursued to improve your sustainability. And again, a lot of these changes will have tangible financial benefits in addition to helping address climate issues. There can also be plenty of tax advantages or subsidies for pursuing clean energy solutions like solar arrays.
IMPROVE, DON’T REPLACE
Sustainability efforts don’t always have to start from scratch. Retrofitting and increasing the efficiency of existing infrastructure can also be effective.
You may not be in a position to build a new shipping and receiving center that runs on clean energy and uses green infrastructure, but there are still plenty of things that can be done.
Upgrading your HVAC systems to reduce energy use on heating and cooling is one of the most common ways to address sustainability. Modern air conditioning and air filtration systems won’t just make life more comfortable for your employees, they will also use significantly less electrical power and address environmental concerns.
GO GREEN
The infrastructure that supports buildings, like stormwater drains and landscape areas, contribute a great deal to the environmental sustainability of an area. It is often easy and cost-effective to make upgrades to this existing ‘gray infrastructure’ that was not designed to be environmentally sustainable.
Installing a green roof with native plantings of trees and shrubs is a simple way of helping manage stormwater that will benefit water quality in your area. Instead of having rain shoot off of metal and concrete and into the watershed, adding plants allows that water to infiltrate the area and improve the carbon footprint of a structure.
Green infrastructure is a term used by engineers when they want to make human structures and buildings function more like the natural environment, and there are a lot of techniques available.
Energy efficient lighting or porous pavement surfaces can both fall into this category, even though they address different environmental concerns.
A good place to start is by looking at features of a structure that you are interested in replacing anyways, say a parking lot for example. More likely than not, there is a solution out there for the upgrade that focuses on environmental sustainability.