Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans and Acadiana

Second Harvest Food Bank leads the fight against hunger in South Louisiana by providing food access, advocacy, education and disaster response, serving over 32 million meals per year to over 210,000 people. Moses Engineers is providing mechanical and electrical engineering services for a $15 million upgrade to their main warehouse and office facility, including kitchen expansion and indoor parking facilities.

Project details:

Our design entails all MEP services for a new 5,000 sq. ft. office facility built inside their warehouse, modifications to existing spaces for a board room and sanctuary, conditioning over 70,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space. Space will be used for storing food goods, mostly cans and boxes of foods. We are adding a Dedicated Outside Air System (DOAS) to provide code compliant air quality and two air handling units (AHUs) for cooling the space to 80 deg. F. so that the food lasts longer with less chance of spoilage. This will also make it easier for the warehouse workers to work in the space during the summer heat. Workers and patrons will also benefit from a new 100-car parking facility with all new LED lighting. Moses Engineers is designing the ventilation for the parking facility .

Additionally, Moses Engineers will assist with utility connections to a new cooking facility, added freezer, refrigerated drive-in units and utility connections to two 7-room pre-fabricated buildings, revised exterior drainage and enhanced exterior lighting.

Moses Engineers will also design a new fire alarm system for the entire facility, upgrade their fire protection equipment by adding a fire pump with emergency diesel fuel backup capabilities and upgrade their central plant with a new 125-ton chiller to accommodate increased load capacities. Design will be complete in 2020 with construction to follow. Construction is expected to be completed in 2021.