It stands to reason that rubber industrial doors are tough simply because of the material, it is very hard to damage rubber. Who would have thought that tough rubber doors are also the choice when plant managers are attempting to achieve sustainable practices when operating the factories and warehouses. With the skyrocketing of energy costs, heat loss is becoming a genuine concern in facilities throughout the country. Although steel roll up doors are here to stay there is a definite move towards the belief that high speed and tough rubber doors are the industrial door solution for the future.
The construction of traditional roll up metal doors is such that the interlocking steel strips allow a free flow of air from one side through to the other. Metal doors are supported in open tracks, they are not sealed on the sides and on a windy day the wind simply blows through all the cracks. The design of rubber doors is just the opposite, they are one large segment and the mounting arrangement is such that the harder the wind blows, the tighter the seal becomes.
Another serious issue with energy inefficiency of course is how long the door opening is open to the elements. Roll up metal doors are very slow to operate whereas tough rubber doors are high speed. Although it may not seem like much, with the number of cycles that an industrial door goes through in a day, the savings in energy to reheat or re-cool the area can be considerable.
Part and parcel of going green in a manufacturing environment is to increase efficiency. Because of the high operating speeds of rubber doors the flow of materials from one department to another all the way through to shipping is improved. Because rubber doors are not subject to damage in the event a forklift truck impacts it, the flow of material is not upset. This is certainly not the case with steel doors, when a forklift runs into a steel door you are looking at serious downtime and in the meantime you have to find a way to reroute material flow.
When all things are taken into account, energy efficiency, safety, maintenance and durability nothing can beat tough rubber doors.
