Agility in the warehouse means agility in the supply chain. But what about real estate scalability? And what will be the contours of tomorrow's warehouse against a backdrop of sustainable development? Through a dedicated webinar, experts from the sector provide some answers.

What are the keys to the warehouse of tomorrow? For Vincent Barale, VP supply chain at Louis Vuitton, the most important factors are the safety and well-being of employees, outdoor spaces and the agility of the building: "We have to commit to the construction of a building for the next 20 or 30 years when we have no idea of the structure of the turnover in the coming weeks. The building must be hyper-agile to keep up with our evolution, to be able to adapt to everything," he stresses. Faced with this observation and the need to integrate a sustainable development approach, what are the prerequisites that can be considered from the design and construction of the building?

Towards an agile and welcoming warehouse

Mario Gallinelli, Systenza's Engineering and Development Director, stresses the need to design the largest possible cell sizes with precautionary measures for subsequent recuts; the optimisation of free storage heights according to fire protection constraints; and the sizing of floors for possible uses: mezzanines, robotisation, mechanisation, etc.

With regard to safety and comfort, Mario Gallinelli mentions the survival zones on the platforms, the pre-painting of the roofs and cladding in white, the natural lighting and the heating and insulation designed for temperatures adapted to the operation. 

Outside the warehouse, in addition to the fitness trails, terraces and ponds, Mario Gallinelli insists on the issue of primary forests: "This creates a stable and resilient ecosystem, results in a reduction in noise and dust, and helps to reduce the additional amount of carbon in the atmosphere," he explains.

Tertiary Decree and reduction of the carbon footprint

These adaptations are all the more important given the promulgation of the tertiary sector decree, which requires each asset to reduce its consumption by 40% by 2030 compared to a reference year between 2010 and 2020, a percentage that will rise to 50% in 2040 and 60% in 2050. In order to respond to this, Benoit Dubois Taine, a partner specialising in energy for logistics and the tertiary sector, for Systenza, recommends a four-stage approach:

Define your objectives

Choose your actions

Anticipating carbon issues

Split the costs between landlord and tenant

A simple and easy to implement approach and explained in detail in the webinar

Decree No. 2019-771 of 23 July 2019, on obligations to reduce final energy consumption in tertiary buildings.