opinion goods in/out l Door to the future
The development of commercial property has been dominated by retail distribution, says Hörmann commercial director Alan Jenkins. In what was a busy year for his company, high profile projects were completed for Marks and Spencer, The Co-operative Group, Spar and Amazon.
C
ompetition in this sector, and the genuine desire to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations is driving the development of new,
more efficient distribution centres. Not only are these new buildings designed with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind but also need to be sympathetic to changing working practices.
We are seeing products previously selected for chilled storage being adopted for ambient storage.
One big change is the use of more and more fast action doors, both internally and externally. Internally, these doors partition areas and prevent draughts, while externally they minimise the time the door is open, leading to reduced energy consumption.
However, the downside of this trend is the increased risk of collisions with lift trucks and pedestrians. Because of that risk, we now include our Light Grille non-contact safety device as standard with our fast action doors. Safety remains the first priority in the loading bay area, and to improve we are seeing the introduction of more integrated systems. Not only are the loading doors and dock levellers linked, but also warning lights and vehicle
48 ShD January 2012
www.PressOnShD.com
control systems. For instance, the Hörmann dock control links wheel chocks to the leveller and door controls so that the bay can only be operated when a vehicle is in the correct position.
Other trends include the use of better insulated options, so we are seeing products previously selected for chilled storage being adopted for ambient storage. One simple design change that we have implemented is to install dock levellers with telescopic lips, so that the insulated loading bay door can close in front of the steel leveller, preventing it from acting as a thermal bridge.
Taking this design to an extreme, we introduced the DOBO system, which allows a truck to dock onto a loading bay without opening the rear doors. This is ideal for frozen operations as the loading bay and truck doors need only be opened after the truck is securely on the bay with the dock seals engaged.
These design changes are also mirrored in product development. For example, we now use LEDs for both traffic lights and dock lights. For dock lights, LEDs give a better spread of light, improving safety, and also use less energy than traditional bulbs. For the traffic lights, the array of LEDs means that individual bulb failure is no longer a safety problem.
Other developments have focussed on better insulation. Our ThermoFrame is a simple thermal break that further improves the thermal efficiency of our insulated sectional doors. This has proved so successful that we now supply it as standard with our double insulated DPU doors for frozen and chilled use. It gives a remarkable 40% improvement in the thermal efficiency of the door set.
Going forward, we see sustainability and energy efficiency as the key issues that will shape warehouse design. We anticipate that there will be European legislation on sustainability issues and as a consequence have already started the process of publishing
environmental product declarations for all our products.
Overall, the retail food industry is taking its commitments to sustainability seriously, as their customers demand. This is making everyone in the supply chain take notice and do the right thing. I am very proud of the commitment that Hörmann has made and continues to make to work to the best possible standards. It is paying dividends for us, but we are not the only ones – the whole industry is moving forward, and the services we provide in design and planning are as important as the high quality, reliability and longevity of our products and installations. ●
www.hormann.co.uk
opinion
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