'Green logistics parks' need of the hour

Hyderabad: Climate activists are blockading Amazon warehouses across the UK to pressurise the e-commerce giant to improve working conditions and end business practices that hurt the environment. India is also becoming a hub of global e-commerce companies putting a number of warehouses across the country. Unless sustainable practices are followed, these warehouses may create havoc in the future.

Over the last decade, the logistics sector in the country has witnessed a rapid rise in demand for freight-forwarding, warehousing and supply chain. While the increase in demand for logistics and warehousing certainly augurs well for the country, it is imperative for these developments to adopt green principles to optimise the use of resources and aid growth in asustainable manner.

Implementation of green concepts and techniques in the logisticss sector can help in addressing environmental and socio-economic issues in a broad sense. Confederation of Indian Industry's Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has developed a pilot version 'IGBC Green Logistics Parks and Warehouses Rating System', a 'first-of-its-kind and exclusive rating system' for logistics parks and warehouses.

The rating system addresses all the three pillars of sustainability - Social, Environmental and Economical, resulting in multi-fold tangible and intangible benefits. The rating system addresses the national priorities and is developed in congruence with national and State policies as well as national and international guidelines, codes and standards.

C Shekar Reddy, Chairman of IGBC-Hyderabad Chapter, said: "IGBC Green Logistics Parks and Warehouses rating system is developed in tandem with the requirements of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The rating system addresses 14 of the 17 SDGs directly or indirectly. The rating system comprises of unique green concepts under different categories."

By adopting this rating system, the logistics parks and warehousing projects can achieve tangible benefits that include energy savings of 20-30 per cent, potable water savings of around 30-40 per cent, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, optimised lead time, and enhanced storage space utilisation. The intangible benefits include conservation of scarce national resources, and higher productivity.

Till now, 25 pilot projects are registered under the IGBC Green Logistics Parks and Warehouses rating system, amounting to a total green footprint of over 31.21 million sft. Out of the registered projects, IGBC has fully certified 7 pilot projects, which resulted in energy savings of 110 million units a year, water savings of 340 million litres/ year and reduction in carbon emissions of 90,610 tonnes a year.