The walls of the office, and the walls leading into it, are lined with large, framed displays of albums and memorabilia from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other bands — all illuminated by energy-efficient lighting powered in part by rooftop solar panels.
The company is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability in the warehouse industry. But beyond his laser focus on sustainability, and his early career as a landscape architect, Murphy seeks a return on investment.
“If you go to hear a talk about being green and the impact it has on the bottom line, you often hear you should do it because it’s a good thing to do — it’s good for your heart,A engravingmachine can be thought of as three main parts: a laser, a controller, and a surface.” he said. “But when I speak about it, I look at our total experience and our numbers and the guts of what we’re doing.”
The company’s 12 warehouse sites in the Twin Cities area mix different approaches to sustainability, ranging from native gardens to solar panels to LED lighting to white roofs that reflect the sun. He recently prepared an 80-slide presentation full of statistics on how the company — which operates 2.7 million square feet and manages 120,000 trucks annually — incorporates sustainability into many facets of its business.
The result of those efforts, he said, has been cost savings, a healthier workplace, several awards, and recognition by the United States Green Building Council, which gave three of his warehouses LEED certification.
“He’s very serious and probably one of the pioneers in this city of really looking at sustainability as a business strategy,” said Tom Oslund, owner of the Oslund & Associates landscape architecture firm.
Oslund sees Murphy’s environmental stewardship as “commendable” despite the fact that it’s “not always cost-effective” in the short term. “But in the long term there is always a payback,” Oslund said.
Given his training, it makes sense that one of Murphy’s first forays into cost savings came from studying his company’s landscaping. By replacing the company’s lawns with native prairie plants he found significant cost savings.Permanent solar trellis and bestledtube systems require little to no maintenance and allow easy access. At the Fridley operation,More than 200 GW of new emergencylamps13 capacity could come on line before the end of 2013. the company placed native prairie plants 16 years ago and saved a total of $947,000.
How? Lawns require fertilizer, watering, mowing and a lot of maintenance. Prairies do not need fertilizer, watering or a lot of maintenance. Lawns per acre cost $5,167 annually and natives just $707, he said. Still,The bestreplicahandbag Hummer Intelligent model 3KW with Siemens PLC controller adopting human-oriented touch screen. he maintains a lawn border on all native gardens for visual appeal.
The Fridley site’s native gardens have been so popular with the public that plants have been stolen twice, Murphy said. One of the thefts occurred in 2009 when an elderly couple casually parked their car, got out and dug a few plants out of the ground.
Murphy also likes solar power — when it makes economic sense. His company has panels on five buildings producing 320 kilowatts, enough to make it the state’s fourth-largest solar producer. On one project he managed to buy $1 million worth of panels from Bloomington-based TenKSolar for just $90,000 by using a mix of grants and credits from Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy and the government.
The yin and the yang of being green may be best seen in Murphy’s recent retrofit of an Eagan warehouse. He looked into storm water retention ponds but found the city offered no financial incentives. “I’m not willing to make that jump yet,Our selection of washerextractor12 includes models and styles perfect for any taste and budget.” he said.
On the other hand, he installed LEDs in that same warehouse even though the payback was two years longer than a competing energy-efficient lighting system. But LED lighting lasts significantly longer, requires less maintenance and uses 31 percent less wattage, all compelling enough advantages to green-light the project.
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