Facilities

Beginning with our corporate headquarters in Mundelein, IL and incorporated throughout our 29 distribution centers, our “green” initiatives are an ongoing opportunity to reduce our impact on the environment:

Lighting – EE TS florescent lighting uses 50% less energy than traditional lighting which makes a significant impact across our 8.5 million sq. ft of warehouse space. Occupancy sensors trigger a fixture to turn on if there is a person within 20’ of a fixture. Prismatic skylights and clerestory windows, around the perimeter of the warehouse, introduce as much daylight as possible, contributing to decreased use of light fixtures and improving employee satisfaction. Exterior light fixtures are controlled by photocells which allow the lights to turn on only when it reaches a certain point of darkness outside. This prevents light fixtures from staying on when unnecessary. Additionally, new buildings are incorporating the use of new LED technology which has proven to be a more efficient use of power than traditional lighting.

Building materials – White TPO Roof Membrane reflect the sun’s rays combined with additional roof insulation creates a greater thermal barrier between the conditioned space of the building and the exterior temperatures lowering energy costs that would otherwise be used for cooling and ventilating the building

Heating and cooling – High Velocity Low Speed Fans in every warehouse circulate large volumes of air rapidly cutting down on the demand from the heaters and fans, programmable thermostats allow the heat to be reduced during the evening hours or when there is no one working in a particular area.

Conservation – Tankless water heaters provide hot water on demand eliminating the energy required to maintain a standing tank and motion sensing faucets and toilets all reduce water usage.

Recycling – specialized equipment installed in every facility enables us to recycle corrugate and stretch wrap rather than add to a landfill. 1,800 Tons of paper, cardboard and shrinkwrap were recycled in 2009. Computerized dumpsters “call” our waste disposal service when they need to be emptied, reducing emissions from transporting half full containers.

Energy utilization – each of our warehouses has generators to create their own energy during off-peak periods when demand is lower, higher efficiency AC forklift trucks require less energy to run, high frequency chargers pull the energy more uniformly over the charge cycle avoiding electrical consumption and spikes, whenever possible transportation batteries are programmed to charge during off-peak times all of which creates improved efficiency and less energy consumption.

• Geothermal heating and cooling will use 60% percent less energy than traditional methods.
• Solar tracking skylights captures maximum sunlight throughout the day, significantly reducing dependence on electricity.
• Tankless water heaters provide hot water only as it is needed, 30% more energy efficient.

Our efforts to identify new opportunities to reduce our environmental impact within our facilities, with newly developed technology or in partnership with our customers is an ongoing mission. It’s our commitment to our customers, our communities and our future.