Venida Packing successfully implements fabric ductwork

Venida Packing, a fruit packer, newly built a lunchroom mezzanine (above the fruit packing floor) that required gentle and even airflow, and—due to its proximity to the inherently dusty process of packaging kiwi and other fruit—it needed to be easily cleanable. Additionally, any ductwork option needed the ability to incorporate custom printed logos to satisfy Exeter, Calif.-based Venida’s passion for displaying company branding.

Prior to the retrofit, the mezzanine temperatures reached 115°F on hot days, which was unacceptable for visitors, as well as employees eating lunch. Unfortunately, air conditioning was cost prohibitive because of the mezzanine’s openness to the rest of the facility. However, evaporative cooling could operate less expensively than air conditioning and lower the mezzanine temperature at least 25°F below the outside ambient temperature. Furthermore, any of the cooled air spilling out of the mezzanine would be a bonus for employees working below.

“We wanted an attractive, cool area where employees could have lunch and our domestic or international visitors could relax in comfort,” says Richard Donkin, manager of Venida, which is a custom packer of peaches, plums, nectarines, kiwifruit, pomegranates, persimmons and grapes. “The fabric duct looks very streamlined and high tech, which is good because it’s very visible as guests look beyond it and out over the operation from the mezzanine.”

An even airflow was a major consideration because the space’s 7-foot-high headroom, support columns and ceiling structure required ductwork to be mounted outside the 4,600-square-foot mezzanine and then blow cool air into it.

With such a long throw of 30 feet, traditional metal ductwork—with registers at 10-foot intervals—would have created uncomfortable drafts on occupants. The idea of installing four evaporative coolers on the roof and then letting air drop into the space was viable, but would have been a drafty proposition.

Instead, the company installed TufTex premium fabric ductwork with a high-throw airflow. The streamlined ductwork has linear diffusion in the form of the manufacturer’s high-throw orifices, running the entire length of the mezzanine, which produces a more even airflow than registers mounted every 10 feet on metal ducts. The design also allowed the usage of one large 22,500 cfm evaporative cooler, versus splitting up the equipment requirement in four units, which saved Venida significant installation costs.

Existing exhaust fans luckily had variable frequency drives, which afforded the opportunity to adjust the exhaust and produce a preferred positive pressure.

The project’s schedule was squeezed between a two-week, off-season period for the fruit packer, while the fabric duct and suspension system was installed in less than one day.

The plant plans to periodically disassemble and launder the white ductwork with its in-house maintenance staff to maintain indoor air quality, as well as aesthetics.

“Metal ductwork is immovable, but all we need is a forklift/manlift cage to take the fabric duct down for cleaning,” Donkin says. “Whether [they’re being used] for a new building or [they’re] retrofitting an existing space, fabric air dispersion systems just make more sense than metal ductwork.”

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