Leveraging energy-efficiency and sustainability in industrial facilities: Simulation-based results with empirical insights

Industrial buildings’ energy performance and related environmental impact have gained rising attention from both academia and practitioners, driven by increased pressures from stakeholders, international regulations, and society. In the realm of industrial systems, logistics facilities play a pivotal role given their traditionally acknowledged direct impact on costs and service levels, coupled with their ever-increasing complexity and energy demand. Thus, Green Warehousing (GW) measures have emerged as a means for performance improvement. However, companies still struggle on finding their roadmap, and literature still exhibits limited real-world empirical insights on GW selection and related impact after implementation. This study seeks to address this gap through an in-depth analysis of real industrial cases by applying a framework of GW implementation. Logistics facilities with various features are considered and the impact of GW measures is simulated. Overall results are classified according to variables such as business sector, warehouse floorspace, and temperature. Implications for academia and practitioners are outlined, applying the study across various contexts and offering insights into energy savings and carbon footprint reduction. Findings and future research directions are then discussed.