Part of the Johnson Matthey group of companies, Alfa Aesar is a leading manufacturer and supplier of research chemicals, metals and materials in a wide span of applications. For more than 50 years, scientists have relied on Alfa Aesar to supply high purity raw materials for a variety of research and development applications. Today they offer over 45,000 products in stock, in sizes from gram-scale catalog items to semi-bulk and bulk production quantities. With custom manufacturing capabilities to supply many more specialized items, they are a one-stop source for research chemicals, metals and materials.
Their product line consists of a comprehensive range of inorganic, organic and organometallic compounds; pure metals and elements; precious metal compounds and catalysts;biochemicals; fuel cell products; nanomaterials; rare earths; analytical products; and select laboratory equipment. Backed by the global manufacturing network of Johnson Matthey and other key partnerships, they offer customers the highest quality and purity in fine chemical products. They are accustomed to supplying R&D laboratories in the pharmaceutical industry and the electronics industry, as well as academic institutions and many others.
Alfa Aesar is a trusted, service-oriented company. Product quality is of paramount importance, but production expertise is just the beginning. Factors such as product availability, packaging and delivery are just as crucial to meeting and exceeding expectations.
For over 20 years Johnson Matthey has relied on Michael Castagna for their facility design and construction requirements. In the fall of 2011 Alfa Aesar made a decision to establish a west coast chemical distribution facility to allow for same day or 1 day service to their west coast customers. The Reno Nevada area was the desired location. After an exhaustive real estate search, an existing 110,000SF building was selected in Sparks Nevada.
Castagna Consulting Group began setting the building program with the Alfa Aesar management team and soon after, design began along with the local approval process. The facility opened in September of 2013.
Over the years technology has changed that have allowed the installation of more sophisticated and reliable equipment to ensure that this chemical warehouse and distribution center is a safe environment. With an integrated back-net system in place, all the components of the facility from HVAC to electrical to fire alarm, suppression and security are monitored 24/7. Each hazard room is independently isolated from each other and the other parts of the building so if an incident ever occurs in a particular room, it is completely contained without effecting the rest of the operation.
Castagna Consulting Group also trained the local fire officials and first responders in the integral systems of the facility. We also produced an information and training video of the facility which can be viewed on our web site One of the unique aspects of the facility is the creation of a fire command center room next to the office area. The technology of touch screen displays, fire alarm panel, and facility graphics, allows the fire officials to see what is going on in the building without having to enter the building. All the systems of each hazard room can be controlled and isolated from this command center room. Decisions can then be made how to safely deal with the situation at hand.
