North American Fire Protection provided design build fire protection for NewCold’s $275 million automated cold storage expansion in Hagerstown, Maryland, working alongside general contractor Primus Builders to protect one of the most advanced high bay cold storage facilities in North America.
The 400,000+ square foot facility combines a nearly 150-foot-high bay with advanced automation, robotics, multiple levels of concrete, conveyors and temperature-controlled environments. The project required a cold storage fire protection strategy capable of performing in extreme temperatures while integrating with a highly coordinated construction and automation program.
For North American, the challenge went far beyond installing freezer fire sprinkler systems.
Fire protection had to be designed, coordinated and sequenced around the way the facility would be built and operated.
Client: NewCold
General Contractor: Primus Builders
Fire Protection Contractor: North American Fire Protection
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland
Facility Size: 400,000+ square feet
High Bay: Approximately 285,400 square feet
Building Height: Nearly 150 feet
The Cold Storage Fire Protection Challenge
Automated high bay cold storage creates challenges that do not exist in a conventional warehouse.
Extreme temperatures influence sprinkler system design and testing. High bay construction introduces complex access and sequencing requirements. Automation, robotics, conveyors, electrical infrastructure and structural systems create an environment where trade coordination must happen well before installation.
Multiple levels of concrete at NewCold added another layer of complexity. Fire protection installation had to move strategically through the building because pulling crews out of an area and returning later could introduce delays related to access, installation and concrete cure times.
The construction sequence created an additional challenge when portions of the high bay wall had to be completed before structural steel could be tied into it. At that point, portions of North American’s fire protection system had already been ordered and partially fabricated.
North American reworked the installation strategy and divided the affected system into Part A and Part B, allowing crews to mobilize through the area at precisely coordinated points in the schedule.
Installation was sequenced around advancing robotics, conveyors and electrical systems, with hydrostatic testing performed immediately behind completed fire sprinkler work.
The objective was straightforward:
Complete our work, prove the systems and stay out of the way of the trades coming behind us.
Design Build Fire Protection Starts With Coordination
On a highly automated facility of this scale, a field conflict can quickly become a schedule conflict.
As the project’s fire protection contractor, North American participated in extensive Navisworks clash detection and BIM coordination with NewCold, Primus Builders and the project’s subcontractor teams.
This process helped identify potential conflicts between fire protection, structural components, mechanical systems, electrical infrastructure, conveyors and other building systems before those conflicts reached installation.
Unlike some high-density warehouse applications, the automated racking at this facility did not utilize in-rack sprinklers. The fire protection design instead had to be carefully coordinated with the building configuration and surrounding infrastructure while respecting the requirements of NewCold’s automated material handling systems.
For North American, BIM was not simply a design exercise.
It was a construction planning tool used to improve sequencing, constructability and project delivery.
That approach is central to how North American performs design build fire protection on complex cold storage, food processing, industrial distribution and mission critical projects.
Pre-Action Fire Suppression for a Frozen Environment
Cold storage facilities require specialized fire protection strategies because water filled piping cannot be treated the same way it would be in a conventional conditioned warehouse.
NewCold’s specialized fire protection scope included 10 double interlock pre-action fire suppression systems, providing protection appropriate for critical areas where controlling accidental water introduction was essential.
The project also incorporated approximately 40 aspirating smoke detection systems for early warning and three clean agent suppression systems protecting critical spaces.
Integrating detection, dry and pre-action systems and specialized suppression into a highly automated frozen facility required close coordination between fire protection, electrical, controls and other project teams.
Taking the Fire Pump House Off the Critical Path
One of the most significant components of NewCold’s cold storage fire protection system never began on the jobsite.
North American designed and fabricated the diesel driven fire pump house in a controlled factory environment before shipping the completed assembly to Hagerstown.
Moving this work off site allowed our team to improve quality control, perform the work in a safer controlled environment and significantly reduce the subcontractor coordination and field installation normally required for a fire pump house of this complexity.
Instead of constructing and coordinating the entire assembly in the field, the project received a fully engineered system designed for a plug and play installation upon arrival.
North American estimates this approach reduced field coordination and installation time by a minimum of six weeks.
NewCold also represented an important milestone for North American. It was the first field deployment of our newly developed factory-built fire pump house approach.
It performed flawlessly.
Keeping Fire Protection Ahead of the Construction Schedule
For general contractors delivering complex industrial facilities, the performance of a fire sprinkler contractor is measured by more than the finished system.
The trade must keep pace with the project.
North American met every required milestone date established by the general contractor and maintained enough schedule advantage to test the fire protection systems before freezer pull down.
When availability of the permanent fire loop could have delayed testing, North American developed an alternative plan.
Rather than wait, the team used water tanks to fill the systems so testing could continue.
This removed another potential dependency from the construction schedule.
By hydrostatically testing systems immediately following installation and completing testing before the facility entered frozen conditions, North American reduced commissioning risk while staying ahead of the automation, electrical and refrigeration activities following behind us.
Specialized Fire Protection Scope
North American’s scope for the NewCold Hagerstown project included:
Safety Without Compromise
Schedule pressure and project complexity never changed North American’s standard for safety.
Throughout the NewCold project, North American continued its companywide record of zero lost time incidents and more than 900 safe days and counting.
That performance reflects the same philosophy that guided the project itself: plan the work, coordinate early and execute deliberately.
The Result
North American delivered more than fire sprinkler systems.
We delivered a coordinated cold storage fire protection strategy built around the way NewCold’s facility needed to be constructed.
Extensive BIM coordination helped resolve conflicts before they reached the field. Strategic sequencing kept crews moving through the high bay without disrupting the trades behind them. Immediate hydrostatic testing prevented completed areas from becoming future obstacles. Factory fabrication of the diesel driven fire pump house improved quality and removed an estimated six weeks of field installation and coordination.
When the permanent fire loop threatened to become a testing constraint, North American found another way to keep the project moving.
And through it all, North American met every required milestone date established by the general contractor.
Fire Protection Built for Complex Industrial Facilities
NewCold Hagerstown demonstrates what
design build fire protection looks like when fire protection is treated as an integrated part of construction rather than simply another subcontracted system.
For general contractors, developers and facility owners building complex cold storage, food processing, distribution center, industrial warehouse and mission critical facilities, North American brings fire protection expertise into the project early.
Our teams combine engineering, BIM coordination, fabrication, installation, testing and commissioning to deliver specialized fire protection systems across complex projects throughout the United States.
North American Fire Protection
Built to Protect. People, Projects and Commitments.
Dry pendent sprinklers are typically installed in food process plants and box-in-box freezers where temperatures are below 40 degrees F.
Dry pipe sprinkler systems are generally used in cold climates and are highly effective in cold-temperature fire protection.
Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) systems are quick-responding, high-volume sprinkler systems that provide exceptional protection for high-piled storage occupancies.
Fire pumps are an essential part of many water-based fire protection systems. Fire Pumps are used to increase the water pressure (measured in psi) when the original water source is not adequate for the system it’s supplying.
NAFPCO designs and installs in-rack fire sprinkler systems to protect racked storage areas in warehouses, where early suppression fast response (ESFR) or ceiling-only sprinkler systems cannot be employed.
Pre-action fire sprinkler systems employ the basic concept of a dry pipe system in that water is not normally contained within the pipes.
Wet pipe systems are the most common fire sprinkler systems. A wet pipe system is one in which water is constantly maintained within the sprinkler piping.
A special hazards fire suppression system is used to put out fires in areas where water damage from fire sprinklers can cause costly or irreparable damage to the assets being protected.
Linear Heat Detection (LHD) is an important component of fire protection systems, as it is designed to detect heat along the length of a sensor cable.
