Merit Energy/Industrial - RL Cold Greenfield Refrigerated Warehouse | Engineering News-Record

Photo courtesy Mighty 8th Media

As part of an effort to help Maersk expand its presence in the U.S., design-builder Primus Builders constructed an $85.7-million, 295,000-sq-ft cold storage distribution facility for cold storage real estate developer RL Cold. The facility includes an automated de-slat conveyor system, very narrow aisle racking, a cascade ammonia CO2 system, fully convertible freezers and a blast freezer for protein products.

The project achieved LEED Gold through sustainable components such as a 1-MW rooftop solar array, a 50,000-gallon rain capture tank, electric vehicle chargers, heat island reduction and low-emitting materials.

The team worked through more than 100 owner-directed change orders. Refrigeration equipment was changed from Freon to an ammonia/CO2 cascade system, which is more environmentally friendly. De-slatting, conveyance and automated shrink wrapping was added. Rack design was changed from conventional to very narrow aisles, which allowed more product density. The solar array was added to offset energy costs by at least 3%.

Switch gear was initially estimated to take 40 weeks for delivery, but Primus negotiated with the vendor and paid an additional fee to ensure the equipment would arrive in 25 weeks.

The completed project has the capacity to reach 80 million consumers within one day and 225 million consumers within two days. The project was completed on budget and on schedule.