Energy-efficient and fire-safe new building for Müller Fresh Food Logistics 

Holten transport company Müller Fresh Food Logistics is constantly on the move. To meet the rapidly growing demand for conditioned storage and transport, construction is currently underway on a new refrigerated warehouse on Keizersweg. The warehouse will be 17 meters high and will have an area of approximately 2,400 meters, with space for 7,000 pallets. Industrial IND sandwich panels from Isocab by Kingspan were chosen for the exterior walls, roof, interior walls and ceiling.

"For a cold store, at least three issues are important: personnel costs, energy costs and insurance costs," says Andre Pes, Commercial Director Benelux at Isocab by Kingspan. "For cold-storage buildings, insurance is recalled every year, with the risk of fire damage being the biggest barrier. In addition to durability, energy efficiency and airtightness, fire response and fire resistance therefore play an essential role in design and construction."  

Fire reaction of B-s1,d0

As the name implies, the fire response of materials is the way they react to fire. "Fire reaction is expressed in terms of a fire rating, smoke rating and droplet rating," Pes knows. "Both our Industrial IND and Quadcore IND panels have a demonstrated fire reaction of B-s1,d0 (for panel thicknesses from 60 to 220 mm). That means the sandwich panels are very difficult to burn in a fire, produce little smoke and show no droplet formation at all." 

The smoke value in particular is decisive in the choice of panels, because smoke usually causes more damage than the fire itself. "Even in a small and quickly extinguishable fire, smoke contamination can cause electronics and stored products to have to be written off. Our products significantly reduce this risk. In addition, high sustainability and energy performance can be achieved."

FM Global certificate

The risk of fire is rated lower by insurers and insurance brokers when the sandwich panels have FM Global certification. FM Global is the world's largest insurer of industrial property and specializes in risk analysis and loss prevention. The insurer has its own testing facilities, where building materials are tested and rated for fire, wind, hail, smoke and construction, among other things. "Whereas for FM 4880 insulated sandwich panels for wall, façade and ceiling are tested for their fire performance, for FM 4881 insulated sandwich panels for the exterior façade are tested under conditions similar to extreme natural factors such as cyclones, hail or flying debris as a result of a hurricane," Pes knows. "This includes testing for air and water tightness. Although these weather conditions hardly ever occur in the Netherlands and Belgium, this certificate is increasingly requested by clients. Especially with the Quality Assurance Act approaching. Both our Industrial IND and Quadcore IND panels have FM 4880 and FM 4881 certification. Our Quadcore panels also have an FM 4882 classification, confirming the suitability of the material for smoke-sensitive environments such as data centers, the food industry, the pharmaceutical sector and clothing warehouses."