FedEx Distribution Warehouse

Summarize the project's program, features and achievements?

FedEx’s new 205,896 SF state-of-the-art distribution center in Richmond, CA processes one half million boxes per day during peak holiday season. The facility is designed to have zero emissions within five years of operation and is regarded as the greenest distribution facility in the western region with infrastructure enabled to support its electric fleet. Construction included 80 concrete tilt-up panels averaging 42' tall. The facility includes 45 dock bays at the rear and front of the building for electric delivery trucks outfitted with doors, bumpers, dock levelers, shelters, fans, heaters, and lights. The project also included an office build-out of 8,549SF and a high security guard house and related infrastructure.

The project was built in two phases and completed on schedule. Phase 1 included coordinating with multiple California coastal and environmental jurisdictions to protect the sensitive wetlands environment. Scope included lot line adjustments, extensive ground improvements of the bay soil, wetlands restoration, off-site roadway and drainage improvements, as well as traffic and utility infrastructure improvements, such as undergrounding 1/4 mile of power lines, widening the road by 20' and adding traffic lights. Additionally, the project required a major upgrade to the water supply infrastructure, including increasing water capacity available to the facility and neighboring properties. To meet the required fire flow, roughly 1,900 LF of public mainline was upgraded and rerouted down the street.

What obstacles were overcome related to the schedule, budget, program, specification, site, etc. on this project?

Before the project could break ground, the team needed to tackle the biggest challenge: how to deal with the soil and prepare the site for construction. The challenging site was near the San Francisco Bay and had soft, compressible clay soil. We evaluated multiple ground improvement and deep foundation options for the project including but not limited to Drilled Displacement Columns (DDCs), Deep Soil-Cement Mixing (DSCM) and precast piles.

After a cost and schedule analysis for the project, the team opted for ground improvements through a surcharge program (concurrent with Entitlements) and shallow building foundations. The project had the unique challenge of several jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional wetlands throughout the site including one running right through the middle of the building pad.

The ground improvement scope included 78,000 CY of soil import, and a deep wick solution to address the settlement/subsidence in an accelerated approach prior to placing the new building over soft compressible clay soils.

Please communicate any engineering complexities or unique features of the panel design for this project?

The 80 tilt-up panels included a unique architectural feature – one and a half miles of linear reveal that required exact horizontal alignment. Craftspeople managed to stand the 80 panels in just four working days. These panels varied in size, weighing 150,000 pounds on average, and the team successfully achieved perfect alignment of the architectural reveal. Once the tilt-up panels were erected, the roof structure package commenced with more than 1,200 I-Beams and expansive metal decking, Overaa's team completed the work with not a single embed out of alignment.

What is the potential for this project's impact on the community and/or environment?

In addition to preserving and restoring the wetlands environment that was disturbed during construction, the project has significantly added to the local employment figures. Located in a historically underserved community, the FedEx facility has created 680 jobs. Additionally, the construction work was performed by predominately local labor, which at its peak, employed 188 craftspeople per day during the course of construction.

Demonstrate how Embodied Carbon was reduced through smart design and/or material innovation.

FedEx was interested in achieving the lowest carbon footprint possible during construction and operations by making the facility the greenest facility in the their western region. The project did not seek LEED or other 3d party certifications but rather sought to create a responsible community project that could serve as a role model for future development. This ambitious structure was deemed the Greenest Distribution Facility within the Western regions for FedEx distribution. The interior floor plan has 8 van lines for interior bus routes as part of a unique, proprietary vehicle recharging system for their electric fleet. The massive system is designed to charge 180 delivery vans with 95 charging apparatuses currently installed. The overhead system distributes the charge among the fleet of vans parked below to keep the rotating fleet of vehicles sufficiently charged, while simultaneously accessing a circuitous package conveyor system. With over 8,000 amps leading into the building, Overaa proposed a phased approach to energizing the building. We coordinated with the utility provider to break the building up into two phases to meet the client’s needs and hit the schedule milestones. The facility's sustainability goal, once in full distribution mode, is to have Zero emissions within five years after start of operations which is mandated by local AHJ in the conditions of approval.

Provide information on strategies implemented to minimize and reduce waste during construction, such as recycling or re-using materials.

All CalGreen standards were met including selecting construction techniques that promote energy efficiency, water efficiency, and material conservation through the use of recycled content. During construction we recycled and reused of all casting slab concrete in the foundations. Embodied carbon was reduced by approximately 15% by the use of low carbon concrete in the slab-on-grade.

Provide information on energy efficient design and construction practices, including the use of energy efficient materials and systems.

The project is located along the California coast, and is uniquely at risk of sea level rise, coasting flooding, inundation, and saltwater intrusion. Coupled with the bay mud, the project's construction faced many challenges but was designed and built for longevity and risk mitigation. Careful planning went into the ground improvements with a deep wick solution and wetlands restoration. The project included a very efficient building envelope and emissions detection system. After panel erection, the entire interior wall surface as well as roof deck was covered with R19 insulation to assist with thermal resistance of the facility. The warehouse has (14) 10-ton HVAC exhaust fans on top of roof diaphragm that synchronize with a state-of-the-art CO2 monitoring system. In the event emission are detected in the facility all exhaust fans will activate. It additionally has 13 Big Ass fans and 18 gas heaters above the van line and conveyors. The project includes 37 level 2 DC fast vehicle chargers for employees on the exterior of the building.

Provide information on any strategies that reduced stormwater runoff volume and mimicked the natural hydrology of the site via Low-Impact Development and Green Infrastructure.

Because the development was located on San Francisco Bay wetlands, we were required to “recreate” a wetlands environment in any area in which native land was disturbed. During construction, we provided drainage swales, native wetland plant species in coordination with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. In all, the project had 3.2 acres of bio retention on the site. To meet groundwater replenishment concerns, the sitework included more than 38,000 square feet of pervious asphalt as well as 11 bioswales.

Provide information on innovative construction techniques which aided in achieving sustainable goals.

We used concrete admixtures to create a low carbon concrete mix for the slab on grade and crushed and repurposed the casting slab content on site to achieve sustainability goals and improve landfill diversion rates. Overaa actively promoted an internal "buy back" program to incentive re-use/recycled material for this project, particularly concrete forming materials that can be used for several applications.

Provide information on the community impact of the project related to sustainability.

In addition to preserving and restoring the wetlands environment that was disturbed during construction, the project has significantly added to the local employment figures. Located in a historically underserved community, the FedEx facility has created 680 jobs. Additionally, the construction work was performed by predominately local labor, which at its peak, employed 188 craftspeople per day during the course of construction.

Provide information on obtaining relevant sustainability certifications, such as LEED, Passive House, Living Building Challenge, or other green building certifications.

No 3rd party certifications. Sustainability goals were self-imposed as part of FedEx's company mission.

Give examples of innovative materials, novel procurement or construction strategies, and using tilt wall design to showcase exceptional performance in any of the above categories.

Using tilt walls significantly saved time and allowed the team to create an efficient building envelope for FedEx to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. Moreover, the tilt up system helped us design the most appropriate foundation system for the site, thereby significantly reducing concrete material resources.