It’s an Exterior Access Drive-Up Climate-Controlled Self-Storage Unit.

Did you know that you can build drive-up climate-controlled units? And now that you know you can, do you want to?

You will if you are designing a facility with customer’s preferences in mind. According to the 2020 Self-Storage Demand Study, 66% of urban, 58% of suburban and 77% of rural customers pick drive-up as the most important feature when selecting a facility. Combine that with the fact that 30% of urban, 27% of suburban, and 19% of rural customers will pay extra for humidity-controlled units, and you have the potential for a significant competitive advantage.

I can’t help but add that 34% everyone’s favorite tenants—business renters—will also pay more for humidity-controlled units. And 66% of business renters list drive-up as the most important feature when selecting a facility.

In other words, you will be able to charge a premium over competing interior-access climate-controlled drive-up units.

Not according to Jamie Lindau, National Sales Manager at Trachte Building Systems, who personally owns a facility with these unicorn units. “Most tenants are only at their units for an hour,” Lindau says. “You can make exterior access drive-up climate-controlled units more energy efficient through the design process.”

Doors: What to Buy, What to Avoid

“When developing this type of storage, insulated sectional doors similar to garage doors provide enough ‘R’ value to contain climate-controlled air,” explains Angie Guerin, Vice President of Business Development at Mako Steel. “While standard metal roll-up doors can be purchased with some insulation value, these doors will typically not meet energy code.” 

The Logis-Tech company has fifteen-plus years experience designing and installing HVAC for self-storage. “For the roll-up door sides, top rated brush, or equivalent, seals are required,” adds Brian Wolfe, V.P. Technical Services. “Additional sealing considerations must be addressed for water intrusion under the door and to close gaps above the door. Seal, seal, seal and insulate, insulate, insulate…”

…Speaking of Insulation

“Vapor barriers are going to cut down on your infiltration of actual humidity into the storage facility,” explains Walt Waetjen, Business Development Manager at Quest, a manufacturer of dehumidifiers for the self-storage industry. “For example, in a state like Oregon or Maine you have an extremely large temperature differential from day to night during the summer months which encourages moisture infiltration.”

In terms of insulation considerations, Angie Guerin says, “The basic framing method remains the same as in ambient buildings, however, typically you are upsizing framing members to create a cavity large enough to house the specified insulation. In a lot of geographic areas, this could mean upsizing from a four-inch framing member to a six-inch. Additionally, depending on the energy code, you may have a requirement for continuous rigid insulation. It is always important to work with an architect to run compliance checks based on local conditions.”

Jamie Lindau recommends insulating the walls every forty feet. “That way when a tenant leaves their door open, you’ll only lose the controlled air in a few units, not the whole building.”

The Magical Unicornlike Properties of Dehumidifying Systems

Before we start talking about dehumidifying systems, Brian Wolfe would like to make an especially important point:

“First, it is important that ‘climate-controlled’ be defined.

The label ‘climate-controlled’ is not standardized within the self-storage industry. Traditionally, temperature-control—such as cooling and sometimes heating—is advertised as climate control.  This overlooks the most critical aspect for most self-storage preservation: moisture. A sofa, a bed or most other items left in storage are not affected by temperature, but they can be destroyed in a short period from unchecked moisture. Or more simply from unchecked relative humidity (RH).

So, a ‘climate-controlled’ facility should possess the ability to stabilize both temperature and moisture.”

According to Walt Waetjen, the need for dehumidifiers varies from region to region. “A facility in the Pacific Northwest has different needs than one in Ohio,” he explains. “For the most part, weather conditions west of the Mississippi do not require as much dehumidification in your facility (although there are pockets of California, Washington, and Oregon where coastal conditions drive high humidity). East of the Mississippi, dehumidifiers are a requirement. The highest dew points in the country are in Louisiana and Florida. In the Midwest, facilities go from 85 degrees and 80% during the day in the summer, and when night-time temperature falls, they hit 100% humidity.”

Another advantage of dehumidifying systems are they prevent and reduce mold and mildew spread from unit to unit, and can cut down on insects such as spiders’ and bed bugs’ ability to live and breed. Wolfe adds, “From a mechanical standpoint, we prefer separation of the HVAC and dehumidification systems although there are integrated units. This needs to be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

HVAC Systems: Not-as-Magical-as Demidifying Systems

When planning your HVAC system, Barry Fitzgerald, Logis-Tech’s Mechanical Qualifying Agent, suggests that each unit be treated individually with dedicated supply and returns. “Gaps between the top of the unit wall and the roof or ceiling can provide a quasi- return,” he says.

“It is important not to use a huge HVAC cooling system as it consumes so much space,” clarifies Jamie Lindau. “If you do, the duct is too huge to get in the way of the unit. You need round ducts and not the rectangular ducts. I recommend installing a vent in every other unit on the inside wall every ten to twenty feet.”

Energy Code Requirements vs. Your Bottom Line

When evaluating exterior access climate-controlled drive-up development, Angie Guerin advises that your main concern should be increased construction cost and the potential for hiccups during the design phase compared to the additional revenue to be gained.

Jamie Lindau’s facility with exterior access climate-controlled drive-up units command premium rates above competitors with interior access. A 10 x 20’ non-climate-controlled unit rents for $120 and interior-access climate-controlled for $170 in his market. His comparable exterior-access climate-controlled units are $200.

Think about the customers who use these units. Steve Hajewski, Marketing Manager at Trachte Building Systems finds that at his personal facilities, he gets a higher-end tenant renting them. “These are wealthier people looking for climate-controlled convenience when they move homes, and also plenty of people doing higher end classic car storage. A few of my car-sized units have outlets for the ‘ultimate’ unicorn experience and a $30 per month premium. These are long-term customers who pay reliably each month,” he explains.

Hajewski points out another recent energy code to be aware of that requires a thermal break in the building’s foundation when it has a mix of non-and-climate-controlled units. Developing all of the units in a building as climate-controlled eliminates that issue.

Dangers of Temperature-Control without Humidity-Control

The number one thing Walt Waetjen wants you to remember when building any kind of climate-controlled storage is not to overcool it. “You’re not trying to condition a self-storage facility for human comfort. You’re doing it for your tenants’ assets,” he says. “Don’t set thermostat to 72 degrees. It should be 80-85 degrees. The air conditioning will run less frequently which decreases energy consumption and keeps the dehumidifier running more efficiently.”

Quest worked with a self-storage facility in Louisiana where the owner had a facility that was controlled for temperature, but not humidity. The facility was cooled to 61 degrees but he had 85-to-88-degree humidity and the units were drenched in mold. When Quest installed the dehumidifiers, they helped him understand how to turn the thermostat up and stop overcooling at the same time.

Final Thoughts

The worst-case scenario of exterior-access drive-up climate-controlled units according to Brian Wolfe is that potentially the HVAC and dehumidifying system could run continuously until the relative humidity/temperature setpoint is reached. He recommends educating the customer while carefully implementing the design considerations we discussed to mitigate the potential energy waste.

Overall, Wolfe reminds self-storage owners that in addition to a significant marketing advantage and increased profitability, exterior-access drive-up climate-controlled units that are controlled for both temperature and humidity give you reputation protection from angry customers with damaged items.

And that makes this a unicorn worth chasing.

 Photo credit: Trachte Building Systems