Refrigeration facility receives environmental sustainability certification

on Monday,August 16,2010 19:08

As more companies strive to be eco-friendly, architects are being challenged to create sustainable designs. In order to recognize businesses that have taken significant measures to become environmentally friendly the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold Certification (LEED).

The USGBC recently announced that it has awarded Preferred Freezer Services - one of the largest public refrigeration warehouse companies in the U.S. - LEED Gold Certification. Ware Malcomb provided the architecture and interior design for the facility, which temporarily houses frozen goods before they are redistributed for food processing.

The 174,786-square-foot cold storage freezer building earned 40 LEED Certification credits due to its sustainable design features, including low flow plumbing fixtures, highly reflective roofing, energy-efficient HVAC system, on-site bicycle parking and 99.9 percent of construction waste diverted from landfills.

The cold storage building has a 60-foot tall steel structure freezer with metal faced 6-inch insulated panel walls and a 9-inch insulated thermoplastic polyolefin white roof. The freezer uses a system of robotic picking and retrieval technology, which allows for fully automated production.

The company has made efforts to reduce the impacts of a freezer warehouse on the environment through the use of automated techniques, inclusion of a rail spur and the use of efficient refrigeration technology.

Adults who are interested in launching careers in environmentally friendly architecture may want to consider enrolling in a design degree program.