GILA Market Study Aims to Make Logistics Centers More Resource Efficient

In the research project “GILA” of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML, a market study running from March to May 2023 aims to provide insights into the energy efficiency of logistics locations. To this end, researchers are collecting data on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions from various logistics sites.

The logistics industry must also contribute to global efforts to make society and the economy more sustainable. Increasing resource efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are essential components to comply with the Paris Agreement and achieve the ambitious goal of making logistics emissions-free by 2050. This is precisely where the research project “GILA” (German, Italian & Latin American consortium for resource efficient logistics hubs & transport) comes into play, which will continue until July 2023.

Operators and owners of logistics centers often lack transparency regarding which resources and quantities are consumed and what emissions are generated. This applies partly to annual needs, but especially to consumption at the process or equipment level (e.g., lighting, intralogistics). However, this transparency is crucial for identifying reduction potentials and deriving sustainability measures.

The results of previous market studies clearly show that the approach of “GILA” is applicable and helpful for the industry, as clear points of connection for greater sustainability have been identified in the areas of energy consumption, refrigerant leakage, and transport packaging. In the next survey round, the participating scientists aim to focus even more on further developing the insights gained so far. This also includes closing existing data gaps related to geographical frameworks and location clusters.

The goal of the project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is to develop average KPI values (Key Performance Indicators) for selected location types and to identify dependencies between sustainability measures and, among other things, the CO2 footprint. In addition, they will create a roadmap as an online platform, providing basic information on sustainability measures and checklists for assessing the status quo for logistics locations.

Interested parties who wish to participate in the market study can contact contact-reff@iml.fraunhofer.de. More information is published at https://reff.iml.fhg.de. Participation in the global market study allows for the integration of the insights gained directly into the planning and implementation of one’s own sustainability goals.

Photo: © Jaspers-Eyers Architects, Philippe van Gelooven