stihl company virginia beach
Stihl Various Projects
Founded in 1974, the Virginia Beach-based STIHL Inc. is one of several manufacturing facilities within the STIHL Group serves as the headquarters for U.S. operations. Over the past several years, Vansant & Gusler has been contracted to provide engineering services for various projects supporting the company’s continued growth at its Virginia Beach facility.
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Owner: Stihl
Type: Design
Budget: Varies
Stihl Various Projects
Project Info Continued ….
Vansant & Gusler’s professional relationship with STIHL began in 2007, around the time of the opening of the new Guidebar Plant, when design services were provided for an addition to Raw Materials Warehouse No. 3. Concerns were identified regarding the accumulation and ventilation of flammable gases within battery charging areas. A study was conducted to confirm that required ventilation rates could be met using existing systems once the warehouse addition was completed.
Following the successful completion of this initial work, Vansant & Gusler was subsequently awarded additional contracts, including a compressor study performed in 2010. This study analyzed existing conditions and provided recommendations for replacing three 100-horsepower air compressors and one 75-horsepower air compressor with three 200-horsepower units. The scope of the study was limited to electrical considerations and did not include analysis of other building systems.
Additional projects in 2011 included preparation of electrical one-line drawings as well as design services for the addition of a plastics extrusion blow molding area within the facility. Later that year, STIHL elected to relocate its data center into a newly constructed 3,200-square-foot, two-story building. Vansant & Gusler designed a 150-kilowatt indoor diesel generator, automatic
transfer switch, and interior electrical distribution system to support the new data center.
The data center design incorporated numerous considerations, as the STIHL SSC data center definition was based on the Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers (TIA-942). As a result, the facility was required to meet the criteria for a “Concurrently Maintainable” classification, providing 99.982 percent availability. Design requirements included a dedicated fire compartment, smoke and fire detection systems, a rapid-response fire suppression system utilizing clean agents rather than water or carbon dioxide, fire-rated doors with access control, emergency lighting and power systems, redundant power distribution, grounding, and lightning protection.
Additional design considerations addressed water detection, flood prevention measures, redundant air-conditioning systems sized for failover operation, long-term cooling capacity for information technology equipment, continuous environmental monitoring, airflow optimization and provisioned smoke control and fume exhaust.
In 2014, Vansant & Gusler was again contracted to provide design services and engineering support for updates to an existing welding line within the Guidebar Plant, continuing the firm’s long-standing involvement with infrastructure and process improvements at the STIHL Virginia Beach facility.
