Exotec says building upwards rather than outwards can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of warehouse operations
Warehouse automation could cut total carbon emissions by as much as a quarter when it is used to reduce building size and energy demand, according to new research commissioned by Exotec.
The warehouse automation company says denser storage systems can allow facilities to be built up to 40% smaller than manually operated sites with comparable capacity.
By storing goods more densely and at greater height, operators can reduce the amount of land, construction material and building space required.
The findings come from two studies commissioned by Exotec and published as part of the company's annual ESG report.
One study was carried out with ADEME, the French state agency for ecological transition, using a life-cycle analysis.
A second study, conducted with management consultancy Argon & Co, compared five different picking technologies across a range of warehouse scenarios.
Both studies identified the building itself and its energy consumption as major contributors to environmental performance, with compactness highlighted as a key factor in reducing emissions.
Andreas Stöckl, Exotec's sales director for Europe, said sustainability efforts in logistics often focus on transport and packaging rather than warehouse buildings.
He said: “In logistics, the focus of sustainability is often on transport, packaging and travel, but when you can build upwards rather than outwards, the carbon footprint of a warehouse drops considerably.”
Heating is another major factor, according to the company, because reducing the overall volume of a warehouse can lower the energy required to keep it at the desired temperature.
Mr Stöckl said: “A smaller, denser warehouse requires less building material, less land and less volume to heat.”
He added that increasing storage density could help some operators avoid expanding existing sites or relocating to larger premises.
“Also, by storing more densely and at height, the same capacity can be achieved in significantly less space, allowing companies to avoid expanding or relocating to a larger facility, and save the emissions such expansion would entail.”
However, the research also acknowledges that automated systems can consume more electricity than manual warehouse equipment.
Exotec argues that those additional electricity demands can be outweighed by savings from smaller buildings, reduced heating requirements and improved operational performance.
Mr Stöckl said warehouse managers were often focused primarily on capacity, throughput and cost, rather than environmental impact.
“The question for warehouse managers is often what increased warehouse performance costs, in both money and carbon. That is where automation can make a significant difference without the need to worry about altering floor space.”
He added: “Whilst warehouse robotics do draw more electricity than manual equipment, the lower construction costs, heating consumption, and performance improvements more than makes up for it.”
Exotec stressed that the environmental benefits depend on automation being used to increase density and avoid unnecessary building expansion, rather than simply adding more capacity to an unchanged footprint.
Mr Stöckl said: “Automation is not about reducing floor space for its own sake, but about extracting maximum performance from every square metre you already have.”
He added: “That way you can grow without building anew, and that is where the real environmental gain lies.”
Exotec is also working to reduce the embodied carbon associated with its own automation systems.
The company said using green steel made from up to 80% scrap metal in electric arc furnaces for components in its Skypod II system can reduce the carbon footprint of a solution by nearly 30%.
It estimates this represents a saving of more than 600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for each system sold.
Since July 2025, Exotec has also included a carbon figure in every customer quotation, allowing buyers to consider environmental impact during procurement.
Mr Stöckl said logistics companies were facing increasing pressure to demonstrate the sustainability of new warehouse investments.
He said: “UK logistics is coming under increasing pressure from their sustainability requirements, and warehouse operators are having to consider both the cost and climate impact of their warehouse solutions.”
He added that suppliers would increasingly need to provide clear evidence to support environmental claims about their technology.
“As suppliers, we’ll need to be able to set out the environmental cost of our systems in black and white, and have the data to prove our claims.”