The new RLS Logistics industrial freezer building in Delanco, NJ, was constructed with the best of everything, including an innovative and environmentally friendly refrigeration system, a unique rolling rack storage system and insulated metal panels from Metl-Span.

“The owner of RLS Logistics attends a lot of conventions and trade shows,” says David Kimball, project manager for general contractor Stanker & Galetto of Vineland, NJ. “He’s always looking for better ways to do things, so he incorporated a CO₂ refrigeration system with this building. It’s more environmentally friendly and it’s very popular in Canada and in Europe. It’s a little more complex to install, requiring some different piping, electrical wiring and control systems, but it is more efficient.”

Stanker & Galetto is a dealer for Butler Metal Buildings and erected the framing for the RLS Logistics facility. Kimball says the building was built with extra girts to handle the wind load requirements of insulated metal panels (IMPs) installed vertically, some as long as 55 feet. Kimball hired Jax Refrigeration of Jacksonville, FL, to install the IMPs.

“Installing larger panels like this requires a little more coordination and obviously, larger equipment to get them into place,” says Rob Brodsky, vice president at Jax. “We do a lot of freezer buildings and going taller has become a trend. I’m guessing it’s because a smaller footprint is less. It does take a little more time to install these large panels, to make sure all the joints are fastened properly, but then you’re covering a larger space and still saving time over other building products.”

David Manders, AIA, a partner at Manders Merighi Portadin Farrell Architects LLC of Vineland, NJ, headed up the design of the facility, with the intent of erecting an efficient building for RLS.

“We design a lot of freezer and cold storage buildings,” Manders says. “With these types of buildings, it’s all about pallet space. The more pallet space you can create with less square footage, the more efficient the building will be. This facility has a mobile rack system to create more pallet space. It’s always less expensive to go up than out. With this building, we went as high as we realistically could with the code considerations in place.”

“We’re big proponents of insulated metal panels for food processing facilities. They’re very cleanable, washable; and with a single component it really speeds up construction. Insulated metal panels are the material of choice for food processing buildings. It’s really the best insulation out there.”

The project was completed in October 2018.