Design industrial and manufacturing facilities with sustainability in mind

Sustainability insights

• Many building owners are requesting at least LEED Silver certifications for their manufacturing facilities.
• Changes in codes, specifically in California, make sustainability a top concern for designing industrial buildings.

• Jarron Gass, PE, CFPS, Fire Protection Discipline Leader, CDM Smith, Pittsburgh
• Justin Milne, PE, PMP, Senior Engineer, Jensen Hughes, Allen, Texas
• Jonathan Sajdak, PE, Associate Principal / Fire Protection engineering director, Page, Houston
• Michael Whalen, PE, LEED AP BD&C, Project Manager, HDR Engineering, New York

What level of performance are you being asked to achieve, such as WELL Building Standards, U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification, net zero energy, Passive House or other guidelines? Describe a project and its goals, identifying the geographic location of the building.

Jarron Gass: The push for energy efficiency standards, primarily LEED, continues to grow, advocating for greener products and processes both for building materials and in the methods and utility infrastructure. Various levels of incentives are offered for achieving different levels of certification through accreditation boards. The pursuit of these certifications is driving further investment in ongoing research and development to increase efficiency.

Michael Whalen: Typically, our clients have been asking for a minimum certification level of LEED Silver and to incorporate design features that reduce energy consumption, hazardous waste and water usage. Net zero is now becoming a mainstream topic of discussion in the United States, so more clients are interested in learning what they can do to achieve a net zero facility.

What unusual systems or features are being requested to make such projects more energy efficient?

Michael Whalen: On-site wastewater treatment is becoming more common, allowing for the reduction in hazardous discharges, recovery and reuse of process solvents. Gray water collection is used to collect and filter gray water that can be used for irrigation and restrooms. With manufacturing process cooling loads being so high, the use of free cooling in the winter to cool any process equipment provides credits for enhancing energy efficiency.

What types of sustainable features or concerns might you encounter for these buildings that you wouldn’t on other projects?

Michael Whalen: Manufacturing facilities have a great opportunity for water reuse and collecting any waste heat from the manufacturing process.

Finding protection that can accommodate for the unique nature of chemical fires from lithium-ion batteries is a current hot topic among fire protection engineers. Courtesy: Jensen Hughes

Describe energy storage systems at an industrial or manufacturing facility. What have you designed recently?

Justin Milne: I have recently designed lithium-ion and lead-acid battery energy storage systems, which present various complexities due to fire safety concerns. Designing these systems requires specific product knowledge, adherence to best practices as outlined in NFPA 855: Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, awareness of industry incident history and familiarity with explosion mitigation options according to NFPA 69: Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems.

What types of renewable or alternative energy systems have you recently specified to provide power? This may include photovoltaics, wind turbines, etc. Describe the challenges and solutions.

Justin Milne: A new code amendment in California addresses roof-mounted photovoltaic arrays. The primary concern with these systems is the potential for flame spread across the arrays. To tackle the fire safety challenges, the California Building Code now allows designs that incorporate adequate vent spacing between the arrays. This spacing helps prevent the buildup of heat and hot gases beneath the panels. The purpose of this amendment is partly to reduce the risk of flashover.

Michael Whalen: Large photovoltaic systems are common on these projects due to the large surface area of roofing on the facility. Storing the complete energy demand of the facility is a challenge as battery storage systems are limited in size as they become increasingly expensive as their storage capacity grows.

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