managers throughout industry who have adopted sustainable practices—is that it not only makes the business a
good neighbor, but it also makes good business sense. “At
the end of the day, costs are in play,” says Duvall. “We are
saving thousands of dollars a year in waste disposal costs.”
SEEING THE LIGHT
Ace has also worked to reduce energy use in its DCs. For
example, the company has swapped out its existing lighting
for high-efficiency light-emitting diode (LED) lighting in
two of its RSCs. Ace projects that in its Sacramento, Calif.,
operation, it will cut consumption by 1. 2 million kilowatt
hours and save $200,000 in electricity costs per year. The
Sacramento facility has reduced its demands for power by
more than a third in less than three years, the company says.
Ace has enjoyed even greater success at its RSC in
Princeton, Ill., a 1. 1 million-square-foot facility. That
building switched from 400-watt metal halide lighting to
LEDs, resulting in $300,000 in annual
cost savings at current electrical rates.
Furthermore, the company says, the
LED lights, which emit little heat, will
mean lower temperatures in the DC
during the summer, further reducing
energy costs. Lighting accounts for
about 60 percent of a typical DC’s
electrical costs, De Young says.
For all its efficiencies, LED lighting
has one significant drawback: Its high installation costs
make it unlikely that Ace, or other companies, will adopt
it universally. DeYoung says the conversion only makes
sense in places where electrical utilities or governments
offer subsidies or incentives for the installation. Installation
costs for a large DC can run $800,000 or more, but incentives can offset up to half of that, making the investment
more attractive. With incentives, De Young expects about a
2.5-year return on investment (ROI) for the installations in
Illinois and California. If the company had to foot the bill
on its own, the return could take five years or more.
Ace is incorporating most of its sustainability practices
at its new facilities. The company this year opened RSCs
in Wilmer, Texas, and West Jefferson, Ohio. Both have
energy-efficient motion detection lighting. Their lift and
reach trucks operate on GenDrive hydrogen fuel cell units
from provider PlugPower. The facilities create the hydro-
gen, leaving only super-pure deionized water as a byprod-
uct. The technology also saves energy by eliminating the
need for a battery charging operation. Ace management is
crunching the numbers to see if it can roll out the technol-
ogy to other DCs.
TRANSPORTATION YIELDS SAVINGS
Transportation is another area where Ace has focused substantial attention on sustainable practices. The company
participates in the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Smart Way program, which encourages shippers and carriers to operate in an environmentally responsible manner.
Ace became certified as a Smart Way shipper in 2009. The
company’s private fleet, about 400 tractors and 1,200 trailers, earned Smart Way certification in 2013.
To reduce the fleet’s carbon footprint, Ace made a number of adjustments to its operating practices, according to
The company has deployed route optimization software to manage delivery routes to retail stores, a step that
McLean says has cut overall miles driven by 7 percent. Ace
re-optimizes its routes once a year, except in the Northern
states, where it’s done twice annually, he says. The company, like many shippers, is making an ongoing effort to consolidate less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments into more
efficient truckload and intermodal consignments.
As for how it’s all working out, Duvall reiterates his
point that these efforts make sense from a pure business
perspective. “It is good for the company, and it is good for
the environment,” he says. c
PETER BRADLEY IS THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF DC
VELOCITY.
