Americold’s Secret to Surviving Power Outages

Americold, a leading cold storage REIT, thrives during power outages thanks to engineered resilience. Senior Vice President of Facilities & Engineering Brian Dunn explains how insulated walls and roofs provide thermal holding capacity, allowing facilities to remain cold for up to a week without power. Dunn attributes this capability to the buildings' design and strategic planning.

Americold's AI system further optimizes operations by predicting energy demand, pre-cooling facilities, and adjusting compressor runtime to reduce costs during peak price windows. The company enrolls many facilities in energy efficiency programs and emphasizes human oversight for maintenance issues. As energy costs rise and capacity stabilizes, Americold diversifies into pharmaceuticals and other specialized cold-chain services, anticipating growth opportunities in the evolving cold storage market.