Self storage has been quietly growing on the commercial real estate scene for some time, but while many retailers and office-space tenants spend a lot of time thinking about how to invest in green commercial properties, until now self storage has slipped largely under the radar. After all, just how much energy does a building full of stuff that is, for the most part, unused by living tenants, really consume? Turns out, quite a lot. In fact, climate-controlled self storage can really burn through electricity and in locations like Florida, which experienced “record high temperatures all summer long in 2010,” lowering energy costs can dramatically increase self-storage related profits according to one property owner in Florida [1]. In Arkansas, one storage company has seriously stepped up “its energy-efficiency game with spray foam insulation, reflective roofing and tightly controlled ventilation technology”[2]. The owners of the unit hope not only to cut energy costs but also to eliminate as much as 40 percent of the building’s radiant energy, which will cut the costs of controlling temperatures in the building.

By lowering the operating costs of self storage, owners have the ability to compete more effectively in the self storage market by lowering prices or by remaining even with other competitors but collecting more profits each month. Also, green self storage is likely to appeal to renters because it is better for the environment. Do you own self storage buildings? Do you think that this could be a potentially good way to improve your operating costs?

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[1] http://www.smartcool.net/media/news-releases/104-news-releases-2011/353-smartcool-cuts-electricity-costs-for-florida-self-storage-facilities

[2] http://sprayfoam.com/npps/story.cfm?nppage=670