TH Foods needed to create a space in its pilot plant to work with chocolate coated products, an area that needed to maintain 50°F and 40% relative humidity when work was being done in the space. IMEG engineers, the owner, and the architect, conferred and reviewed potential methods to create the space, concluding TH Foods would be best served by purchasing a pre-manufactured cold room to serve as the chocolate room. With HVAC load information provided by IMEG, the cold room supplier designed the basic HVAC system for the room. IMEG specified an energy recovery ventilator to provide ventilation air for the cold room and the exhaust air stream was used to pre-heat/pre-cool the outside air before the air was distributed to the cold room HVAC unit.

Key Systems and Capacities: The energy recovery ventilator provides 65 cfm of outdoor air to the cold room HVAC system, and utilizes the exhaust air stream to pre-heat/pre-cool the ventilation air.

Challenges: The main challenge was to create a space that would be able to maintain tight temperature and humidity requirements without affecting the surrounding spaces.

Innovative Design: Using an energy recovery ventilator to pre-heat/pre-cool the ventilation air.