AV Dawson

AV Dawson’s Port of Middlesbrough, located on the River Tees, provides a multi-modal freight logistics service across a number of sectors, including energy and renewables, construction, agriculture and automotive.

Its 102,000sq ft Automotive Metals Store allows metals for the sector, such as steel, to be kept in a specific climate-controlled environment which safeguards the quality of the metals. The metal is brought here by rail and stored ahead of final delivery to businesses across the region.

The firm worked to ensure a negative carbon footprint for the store, which needs a reliable source of heat 24 hours a day able to react quickly and sustain heat output during high demands. Schemes put in place result in the saving of 100t CO2 per year – the equivalent of driving an average family sized car 250,000 miles each year for 20 years and 1.58million kW/h energy saving per year.

The initiatives include

70 bore holes along the length of the building to house ground source heat pumps, working with air handling units to remove humidity and maintain a constant temperature.
An additional 1,000 solar panels on the roof provide an extra 220kW of energy to meet electricity needs, with the building producing more than twice the energy it uses
High speed roller shutter doors to prevent heat loss and humidity imbalance
A rainwater lagoon collects any rain that falls onto the building acting as a natural soakaway to reduce pressure on surrounding sewerage systems.
On top of this example, as part of its £10million master plan to invest further into its Middlesbrough port facility, AV Dawson will also construct a new renewable energy plant at its 40-hectare facility.