Supply Scan

ProLogis To Build 'Green' Warehouse For Sainsbury's

ProLogis is building an environmentally responsible facility in the United Kingdom for Sainsbury's, one of Britain's leading supermarket chains.

The 530,000-square-foot warehouse will feature a variety of environmental features and technologies designed to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions at the site.

The facility will be built at ProLogis Park Pineham, a 112-acre industrial park in the Midlands, the UK's primary distribution hub. It will serve as a regional distribution center serving 50 Sainsbury's stores throughout the central part of the country, under a multi-year lease agreement. Completion of the building is scheduled for the second half of 2007.

"We're extremely pleased that Sainsbury's has selected ProLogis for this important initiative," says Alan Curtis, managing director, ProLogis, Birmingham, England. "This agreement significantly expands our relationship with Sainsbury's. It also underscores the strength of ProLogis Park Pineham as a distribution site and the value the property brings to our overall UK portfolio. We look forward to completion of the Sainsbury's project and to again serving as their distribution facilities provider."

Sainsbury's currently leases 112,000 square feet from ProLogis outside London and a 256,000-square-foot facility from ProLogis in the east Midlands.

Environmental features will include:

• Wall-mounted photovoltaic panels that generate electricity;
• Solar walls that produce heat from sunlight; an on-site power plant that reuses the heat produced by air conditioning; an on-site recycling facility;
• Energy efficient lighting systems; and
• Air-tight construction that minimizes energy loss through the external fabric of the building.

"Sustainability is a core value at our company," says Roger Burley, Sainsbury's head of supply chain. "We recognize that virtually every business decision we make has an impact on the environment, and that we can minimize that impact by improving our stores and business facilities, reducing packaging, promoting recycling and improving transport. We're extremely pleased that so many sustainable design features will be incorporated into our new distribution facility at Pineham."

"When completed, this building will be among the most environmentally advanced distribution facilities in the world," says Ken Hall, managing director of global development for ProLogis in Europe. "Like Sainsbury's, ProLogis has made a corporate commitment to be the global leader in sustainable warehouse design. We recognize that experience and expertise in this area will be a key success factor for industrial developers in the future, in order to meet more stringent regulatory requirements and the demands of customers concerned about corporate social responsibility.