Whether your business manufactures, processes, stores, or ships, you and your employees deserve a streamlined, reliable industrial facility — one that promotes logistical, operational, and energy efficiencies; maximizes productive capacity; and ultimately, allows you to do what you do best to outperform the competition.
In this "Building a Facility to Last" series, we're digging into four game-changing elements anyone embarking on the development and construction of an industrial facility needs to consider:
1. INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION | 2. SUBGRADE REACTIONS | 3. FLOOR JOINTS | 4. INTERIOR AMENITIES
PART 1: INDUSTRIAL VENTILATION
For those industrial facilities that don't have fully climate-controlled systems, natural ventilation can address air stratification, reduces condensation, decreases air pollutants, keeps your workforce comfortable, and protects inventory and equipment from humidity.
Mechanical fans have been around since 1882, offering a cost-effective ventilation solution that has stood the test of time. But since then, ventilation for industrial facilities has progressed in substantial ways and can deliver cleaner, safer air – quality control that protects your assets and investments.
Temperature Considerations
Did you know a building’s temperature increases with each elevated foot? A warehouse with a 32-foot ceiling can have a temperature variance of 16 to 32 degrees. Air circulation plays an even bigger role in warehouse longevity when you stop to consider the trend in warehouse ceiling height, with the average clear height rising from 20 to 32 feet, 40 and even 80 feet high. The benefits of a well-designed warehouse ventilation system can be substantial.
Understanding the Challenges
When you add the challenge of racks, equipment, and other obstructions, pockets of dead air seem like an unavoidable problem. Then consider typical shifts changes with the number of occupants, activities, and special processes. Further add adjustments for seasonal temperatures and humidity levels.
How can one ventilation system account for these variables?
HVLS & ZOO Fans
With the right planning and solid advice, you can leverage the benefits of a proper ventilation system for your facility.
For instance, High-Volume, Low-Speed (HVLS) fans circulate and mix air instead of exhausting it through a roof fan or louver. With airfoils as large as 24 feet in diameter, HVLS fans can generate huge columns of air that ventilate large, open spaces with high ceilings. This device encourages evaporation, reducing condensation build-up on concrete floors for improved safety.
Achieve thermal comfort in the Zone of Occupancy with ZOO fans, which provide a localized approach to maintaining the right temperature within a targeted area. ZOO fans mix air within a specific space to create an even temperature and provide a significant net cooling effect without annoying drafts. A controlled, homogenous temperature creates a productive, safer work environment.
The Power of Two
A combination of these fans can work in tandem to quickly move fresh air to a specific location in the warehouse, eliminating hot and cool zones within the rack aisles and speed bays. Integrated strategies reduce the burden on the larger facility-wide systems, which saves in cost and maintenance. Fans can also ensure prescribed volumes of fresh outdoor air is brought into the warehouse and a similar volume is exhausted. This reliable movement of air, with an adequate supply of fresh air, benefits your workers and the productivity of your warehouse.
Managing Humid Environments
Other than pollution and heat, another potentially destructive factor to control in your warehouse is relative humidity. Elevated moisture can create mold, corrosion, and rust, reducing the quality of your products and creating a safety hazard for workers. Humidity levels need constant management and monitoring, with levels rising and falling throughout the day. Fresh air ventilation can help dissipate buildup and avoid “sweating slab syndrome” in spring and fall months when temperature swings increase.
A Stillness in the Air
Some facilities might be better served by actively reducing or forcibly directing airflow. Facilities such as food service and biopharma manufacturing must be sensitive to disruption of particles when baking, packaging, or maintaining a biological cleanliness rating.
Additionally, when contamination is a critical concern, positive-pressure air flow can ensure bacteria and other airborne contaminants are forced away from sensitive areas. Careful consideration of facility needs, raw vs. finished product placement, and sanitation methods may dictate design priorities like “straight-through” airflow or the separation of air distribution based on pressurization and filtration concerns.
Tracking Your Environment
Environmental sensors capable of tracking changes in air quality, slab temperature, and humidity levels give a holistic picture of how the elements influence one another. Wireless monitoring provides real-time excursion alerts, delivering remote oversight of the facility’s temperature 24/7. Your facility management team can evaluate this data and identify trends in thermal conditions that give an elevated understanding of how to balance comfort, performance, safety, and cost.
Stay tuned to learn about Subgrade Reactions in Part 2 of this industrial construction series, coming soon!