Earlier this year, we announced the beginning of a major project with long time client Cold Xpress.

This project, which has been moving at a rapid pace towards completion throughout the year, will see the completion of Cold Xpress’ additional new cold storage facility built in Rowville, enlarging their footprint in the south east to just under 50,000 square metres of land area. This facility will have multiple temperature controlled zones for storage under chiller, freezer, and ambient conditions. Once completed, the facility will be able to accommodate up to 10,000 pallet positions of pallet racking. We here at A1 Precision Solutions are excited about it, and it’s been a pleasure to work with Cold Xpress on this fantastic project.

What makes us particularly proud is that Cold Xpress have recently become a finalist in the MHD Mercury Sustainable Warehousing Awards. From the beginning of this project, there’s been a clear business directive from the owners of Cold Xpress to create a long term plan to not only serve Australian businesses well, but also be environmentally friendly in the way their business operates. Cold Xpress’ commitment to innovation really shows in their new facility.

What Makes Cold Xpress’ New Facility So Green?

From the beginning of the project, the management team and owners of Cold Xpress have been challenging us to find environmentally friendly solutions to their new cold storage facility. We’re proud to be a solutions focused commercial construction company, and we rose to this challenge, despite cold storage often being very energy intensive.

The environmentally friendly credentials of this project come down to two major pillars: solar power and efficient refrigeration. Working together, we were able to reduce the need for drawing off grid power. The efficient, CO2 based, refrigeration has the added benefit of having other environmental benefits as well.

Looking just at the solar installation, this was an obvious renewable feature for the project, but the installation won’t be as simple as just putting some panels on the roof. In order to take the weight of the solar panels, our engineering team designed a way to reinforce the roof, allowing it to hold as many solar panels as needed for Cold Xpress’ new facility to operate. Once installed, these solar panels will allow Cold Xpress’ new facility to operate off renewable energy during the day; they have plans to install a battery solution for the night.

All that being said, we were able to save Cold Xpress on additional solar installations (or need to rely on grid power) through taking advantage of new technologies in refrigeration. Although it’s less widely used in Australia, CO2 based refrigeration systems have been getting increasingly adopted overseas due to their environmental credentials and ease of use. More lately, many businesses in Australia have begun to see the advantages of CO2 based refrigeration, and Cold Xpress is about to become one of them.

According to Hillphoenix, CO2 based refrigeration systems require smaller compressors to operate. Not only does this save on space, it also means that it saves on electricity. This is what has allowed us to lower the power requirements for the facility. Outside of electricity consumption, although CO2 isn’t often associated with being environmentally friendly or sustainable, in the world of refrigeration, it is. We all know that CO2 is a by-product of industrial processes, however, using it in refrigeration means we’re using a by-product for something useful rather than having it cause pollution. Traditional natural refrigerants like ammonia on the other hand need to be produced in industrial facilities. It may sound ironic, but the “carbon footprint” of using CO2 over ammonia in refrigeration is lower.

Beyond CO2 refrigeration being better for the environment, we also suggested that Cold Xpress use it simply because it will be easier for them to work with long term. Ammonia tends to be more regulated than CO2, meaning there are more safety regulations in place that need to be complied with. For example, although coolant leaks should be avoided and fixed as quickly as possible, when CO2 leaks, it can’t catch fire and it’s not considered toxic to breathe.

In addition to the environmentally friendly power and refrigeration, we’ve been sure to source insulated panels that have received approval from the Global GreenTag organisation. This accreditation ensures that the insulated panels used for the temperature controlled areas are made to the highest environmental and human rights standards possible.

Finally, the fire safety system also cut down on material use through a novel design. Due to cost requirements and sustainability concerns, we engaged a fire engineering firm to come up with a unique solution for the site. The existing sprinkler system normally would have to be replicated beneath the cold room ceiling, but the engineered solution we came up with meant that we could place heat detectors in the ceiling instead. This allowed the existing sprinkler set up to penetrate through the cold room ceiling and into the freezers and fridges. This not only kept the cost down, but it also saved on materials because a new system didn’t need to be manufactured.

There’s More To It Than Just A Sustainable Facility

Although we here at A1 Precision Solutions like to boast about how our innovative approach has helped a client achieve their business’ environmental goals, we have been impressed at how Cold Xpress do business. We were also surprised that they’ve found the more sustainable approach an easier way to operate.

For instance, Cold Xpress is transitioning to a fully paperless warehouse system. This shift not only supports environmental sustainability but also enhances efficiency by allowing quicker and easier access to administrative records through digital means. Their customers have already experienced the advantages of their online and digital transport operations. Now, Cold Xpress is completing the final phase of their digital transformation with the development of their paperless warehouse, spearheaded by their tech partner, XDOCK.

Another small sustainable feature of Cold Xpress’ new facility that’s easy to overlook is its location. The new facility sits next to an entrance to the Eastlink Freeway. Again, this may sound small, but it reduces the need for trucks to waste fuel sitting in traffic after they get off the freeway and onto surface roads; they can get on the freeway onto their destination quickly and efficiently. While of course this reduces fuel consumption, it also means faster service to Cold Xpress’ customers as well.

What’s Next In The Cold Xpress Project?

What’s next for this project is hopefully an award, but we’ll have to wait to find out.

In the meantime, the installation of the fire rated insulated panels is nearly complete. This will be followed by the preparation of concrete slab heating and insulation. This is a relatively large part of the project that will ensure the building’s foundations can withstand the very low temperatures of the freezer environments.

As the inside of the warehouse fit-out happens, we’ll also be building an outdoor plant room to accommodate the CO2 refrigeration equipment as well as an electrical substation for the roof solar and attachment to grid power as a backup.

From there, this project will also see an extension to the building loading docks to accommodate more truck traffic.

This project has been moving along quickly since its start, and it’s expected to finish well within schedule. We wish Cold Xpress luck with their award and congratulate them on their hard work.