Low-Carbon Warehousing: Examining Impacts of Building and Intra-Logistics Design Options on Energy Demand and the CO 2 Emissions of Logistics Centers

Logistics centers contribute to CO 2 emissions in the building and logistics sector and therefore share a responsibility to decarbonize not only the supply chain. Synergy effects in both building and intra-logistics should be considered as suitable levers to lower energy demand and related CO 2 emissions. This research develops firs t with a systemic approach an integrated analytical model for energy calculation and reference building models for different types of logistics centers to provide basic knowledge and a methodological framework for planners and managers to aid in the selection of different intra-logistics and building design options for optimum energy efficiency. It then determines the energy demand in reference building models and performs parameter studies to examine interrelations and impacts of design options for intra-logistics, building technology, and building skin on energy demand. It combines these to optimized reference building models to show the extent to which energy and CO 2 emission savings can be reached. The results show that it is possible to significantly lower CO 2 emissions. However, there are clear differences between the different types of logistics centers and the impacts of different design options.