Warehouse & Cold Storage
Warehouse MEP rewards simple, robust, low-operating-cost systems that work around racking, conveyors, and dock lines. Add a cold envelope and the rules change: now the slab can heave, the sprinkler system needs freeze protection (typically dry-pipe or preaction), and a refrigerant leak is a life-safety event the building has to answer for.
High Bays, Cold Envelopes, Dock-to-Stock Flow.
A dry warehouse is an envelope and a power problem; a cold-storage box is a thermodynamics problem wrapped in a code problem. We design the high-bay heating and ventilation, the racking- and automation-aware power, and the drainage these facilities run on. The cooler and freezer boxes themselves — refrigeration, insulated envelope, and under-slab heave protection — are designed by the refrigeration or cold-storage specialist; we coordinate their power, coordinate the dry/preaction fire-protection basis, and design non-ammonia machine-room ventilation around the refrigeration plant, all sealed by the licensed engineer of record on your project.
High-Bay HVAC & Ventilation
Robust, low-cost conditioning for large open volumes and the docks that breathe.
- High-bay gas-fired or hydronic heating with destratification fans to recover stratified ceiling heat
- Mechanical or gravity ventilation and summer heat relief sized to the occupancy classification
- Dock-door infiltration and freeze protection carried into the heating-load calculation
- Forklift battery-charging ventilation (hydrogen from lead-acid batteries) per the IFC and OSHA 1910.178(g), with lithium-ion charging areas coordinated with the equipment listing, manufacturer instructions, and the AHJ
- Office, pick-module, and break-area comfort conditioning zoned off the warehouse block
Cold-Storage Envelope & Freeze Protection
Cooler and freezer boxes are designed by the cold-storage specialist; we coordinate their power and the building MEP around them.
- Under-slab heating for freezer floors — glycol loops or self-regulating heat cable — designed by the refrigeration or cold-storage specialist, with its power requirements coordinated in our electrical design
- Cooler, freezer, and anteroom temperature zones designed by the refrigeration or cold-storage specialist, with power for air curtains and door heaters coordinated in our electrical design
- Refrigeration heat rejection and in-box condensate and defrost drains designed by the refrigeration specialist; we coordinate heat-trace power and the drain connections to the building drainage
- Building MEP coordinated around the refrigeration designer's evaporator and piping layout
Refrigeration Plant & Machine-Room Support
We design the building systems the ammonia or CO2 plant depends on — the plant itself is a specialty scope.
- Machine-room ventilation to IMC Chapter 11 and ASHRAE 15 for non-ammonia systems; ammonia-room ventilation, detection, and shutdown coordinated with the refrigeration engineer per IIAR 2
- Emergency power, lighting, and disconnects for refrigeration compressors, pumps, and purge
- Ammonia plant to ANSI/IIAR 2 or CO2 plant to ANSI/IIAR CO2, designed by the refrigeration engineer — we design the building MEP around it
- Make-up air, drainage, and electrical service coordinated to the plant's connected load
Electrical, Power & Automation
Power and lighting matched to fulfillment density, MHE, and a phased automation roadmap.
- High-bay LED lighting to IES warehouse illuminance with aisle-occupancy and daylight-harvesting controls
- Service and distribution sized with diversified MHE/conveyor load and documented expansion headroom
- Power and controls pathways roughed in for conveyors, sortation, and ASRS automation
- EV truck, yard-tractor, and forklift charging infrastructure planned with the utility
- Short-circuit and coordination studies, plus arc-flash studies per IEEE 1584 and NFPA 70E, with label data updated to approved equipment before field application
Plumbing, Drainage & Fire-Protection Coordination
Process water, slab drainage, and the wet/dry sprinkler basis the system is built on.
- Trench, hub, and sanitary-floor drainage routed clear of rack-post and conveyor footings
- Wash-down, sanitation, and food-grade process water with backflow (RPZ) protection
- Fire-protection design basis coordinated: wet for coolers held at 40°F or above, typically dry-pipe or double-interlock preaction for freezers
- Gas piping for unit heaters and process equipment; freeze protection on any wet line in a cold zone
Ambient, Cooler, Freezer, Machine Room
| Zone | Envelope & slab | Fire-protection basis (coordinated with the FP engineer) | Who designs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambient dock & dry storage | Dock-door infiltration and freeze protection carried into the heating load | ESFR, CMDA or in-rack, set by storage height and commodity class per NFPA 13 | CoreX (building MEP) |
| Cooler | Insulated panels and warm-side vapor barrier by the cold-storage specialist | Wet pipe (coolers above 40°F) | Cold-storage specialist (box); CoreX (power and surrounding building MEP) |
| Freezer | Under-slab heating and warm-side vapor barrier designed by the cold-storage specialist | Typically dry-pipe or double-interlock preaction | Cold-storage specialist (box and slab heating); CoreX (power and surrounding building MEP) |
| Machine room | Ammonia: normal ventilation plus 30 ACH emergency exhaust per IIAR 2, started by detection at 150 ppm (CO2 rooms per ASHRAE 15 and IIAR CO2) | Coordinated with the fire-protection engineer | Refrigeration engineer (plant and ammonia-room safety design); CoreX (building connections and coordination) |
We coordinate the fire-protection basis; the fire-protection engineer designs the system.
We design the building MEP around the cold zones. The cooler and freezer boxes themselves — refrigeration, temperature zoning, insulated envelope, and under-slab freeze protection — are designed by the refrigeration or cold-storage specialist, and we coordinate their power requirements. The ammonia or CO2 refrigeration plant itself is a hazardous specialty designed by a refrigeration engineer — to ANSI/IIAR 2 for ammonia or ANSI/IIAR CO2 for R-744 — and we coordinate its machine-room ventilation, detection, and shutdown requirements and design the emergency power and drainage around it, all behind the seal of the licensed engineer of record on your project.
The fire-protection engineer designs the system; we coordinate the design basis and the MEP around it. The key call is wet versus dry: coolers above 40°F can run wet pipe, freezers typically use dry-pipe or double-interlock preaction so the lines don't freeze, and that choice drives fluid-delivery time and ESFR-versus-in-rack decisions under NFPA 13. We stay close to it because it interacts directly with the racking, ceiling height, and the cold envelope.
Yes. We size service and distribution against diversified material-handling and conveyor load with documented headroom, and lay out power and controls pathways so adding sortation or ASRS within that headroom is a connection exercise rather than a service upgrade. We also plan EV truck, yard-tractor, and forklift charging with the utility so the electrical infrastructure matches the operation's electrification roadmap.
For an ammonia plant, IIAR 2 (which the IMC adopts for ammonia systems) sets the requirements, including normal ventilation and 30 ACH emergency exhaust started by detection at 150 ppm; the refrigeration engineer establishes that safety design, and we coordinate it with the building MEP, emergency power, and drainage. For non-ammonia systems we design the machine-room ventilation to the IMC and ASHRAE 15.