Nike's Ultra-Sustainable Distribution Center, runs on 100% renewable energy.
At a typical distribution center somewhere next to a midwestern highway, an endless series of trucks lines up next to a massive, energy-sucking warehouse. At Nike's new distribution center in Europe, things are different: Incoming shipments arrive by canal, and the entire operation runs on renewable energy.
The expanded center, centrally located in Belgium, is surrounded by six huge wind turbines—producing enough electricity to power 5,000 houses—and covered in solar panels over an area the size of three soccer fields. A thermal energy system stores warm water in the summer to heat the building in the winter, and the opposite when the seasons change.
As much as possible, the center avoids using trucks to help lower the carbon footprint of transportation. More than 95% of incoming goods arrive on boats, helping avoid 14,000 truck journeys a year (by carrying multiple containers, boats are automatically more efficient). For deliveries to consumers, because the canal system generally takes too much time, the company often uses trains instead of trucks.
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3060418/nikes-ultra-sustainable-distribution-center-is-so-clean-it-uses-sheep-instead-of-lawnmowers
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