Keep cold! Freezer curtains, wall panels and doors are more functional than ever

Dairy Foods,  April, 2003  by Scott Meacham

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Since the 1970s, when insulated panels were first introduced for warehouse construction, they have been regarded as a commodity product with a solitary purpose: "Keep the cold in" and do it as efficiently as possible.

The panels were off loaded from trucks and mechanically fastened to the structural components of the building. The scope of their expectations was to remain in the "installed position" and provide many years of acceptable performance. Doors, on the other hand, were expected to provide another purpose. A door can be defined as a commodity that temporarily fills a hole in the wall at a defined location of planned egress. The door is expected to be nonexistent to all egress traffic flow and not be subject to damage resulting from accidental confrontations. The basic requirement and understanding for a door is "they open and they close."

So what's new with insulated doors and panels?

All panel and door manufacturing companies will be switching to more environment friendly foaming systems within the next few years. The Environmental Protection Agency has mandates in place that require all manufacturers to change to new "Blowing Agents" within certain time frames depending on the agents that they are now using.

Presently, most manufacturers of insulated panels are involved with testing programs for several different reasons. Structural testing is being required due to the need for compliance with new and revised code requirements. A second reason for this testing is the need to comply with changes regarding insurance coverage of the facilities. To a certain degree, some of this testing is necessary due to the implementation of the new foaming systems being installed into various manufacturing facilities. New profiles and methods of mechanical attachment for the panels also result in the need for new testing programs.

A 20 year limited warranty for the interior finish on walls, ceilings, and doors is now offered by some panel and door manufacturing companies. This warranty is for a USDA Accepted, white coating, designed for use in high wash down areas. The availability of this warranty is dependent upon the formulation of the chemicals used for wash-down. Check with your panel and door supplier to verify your compliance with the conditions.

Engineering services are now available from panel manufacturing companies. These services assist contractors and design firms with the use of the insulated panels in the overall building designs. This assistance usually includes wind load calculations, fastening patterns, allowable spans product recommendations for code compliance, etc. Why not ask, "How can our panel supplier help us?" and make the call.

Door manufacturing operations are continuously trying to accommodate the requirements and/or preferences of their customers.

In general, doors are larger and faster than ever before. High speed operators, with speeds of 40" per second I per leaf, have become a common request for "Hard", cold storage, horizontal sliding doors. Even though these doors usually include soft start I soft stop features with braking, have you ever seen a 10ft. x l4ft. door move at such speeds? These speeds are usually specific to opening speeds only, with justifiable reservations to closing speeds. The traditional speeds of 12" per second- open and 12" per second-close doesn't seem to satisfy current needs in material handling strategy.

The entire door industry has migrated towards impact resistant door designs. The industrial door and cold storage door industries have introduced impact resistant/breakaway door designs for nearly every type of door in the market. We now have access to complete breakaway, flexible impact resistant and partial breakaway/impact resistant dock doors. We have similar designs for horizontal sliding, bi-parting, and bi-folding, interior cold storage doors. High-speed roll-up and hi-parting traffic doors have also taken to this niche in the market. These doors generally include an increased cost factor. The design efforts to minimize door damage within the facilities apparently have added so-called value engineering to the product. Apparently the industry requirements of moving more product, in less time, has taken its toll on the doors, thus creating increased maintenance and replacement costs. Ask your door supplier about the performance, types, costs and warranties for these products.

The stainless steel door is one of the newest offerings in the door industry. Primarily used in the Food Processing industry, these doors have now evolved into complete stainless steel units, with very little exception. Not only is tile door finish stainless steel, but also the components of the operator assembly, mounting hardware, motor housing, control boxes, sprockets, shafts, etc. The intent of this design is to minimize the unsanitary conditions created by traditional components, due to rust and corrosion that is created through high wash-down conditions. This special design can be provided for horizontal, vertical, and overhead door designs.