The facility houses a customer service call center, offices, and includes space to showcase new designs and products to customers. It has become a touchstone for Halstead’s sustainable building program.
“We packed sustainable features into this smaller facility to achieve great things.”
“In general, the bigger the building, the easier it is to add green building features and gain certification points,” notes Johnathan Stone, Halstead New England’s project manager. “We packed sustainable features into this smaller facility to achieve great things.”
Stone’s multi-discipline team had extensive experience in green building design and construction, but the center was their first foray into Green Globes® certification. “I was astounded how… reasonably priced it was, and the contractors and architects loved it,” says Stone. “Green Globes made different avenues available to achieve points so we could do the right thing without being limited to one pathway.”
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
- A 45 kilowatt photovoltaic system that provides more than 50% of the building’s real-time energy consumption
- A whole-building LED light package, including long linear lighting strips, rotatable spot lighting, and dimmable lights
- Rainwater harvesting for irrigation, which saves nearly half of the center’s total water use
- An indoor 12-ft. by 10-ft. vegetated wall that improves air quality and offers employees and guests an immediate connection to nature
- Floors covered with carpet tiles and Halstead’s own sustainably certified luxury vinyl tile (LVT) manufactured from low-VOC compounds which can be totally recycled at the end of its useful life
Single Source
Stone says having one point of contact throughout the Green Globes process was invaluable. He appreciated that the team knew where they stood in terms of the rating and didn’t have to deal with the frustrations of changing committee members. “Our assessor knew our project from the planning stage through completion,” describes Stone. “He examined our initial self-assessment and drawings then offered suggestions and answered our questions. He did a phenomenal job.”
“It opened our eyes… to things we hadn’t considered.”
Working with the assessor spurred new ideas for the team as well. “It opened our eyes on the design side to things we hadn’t considered. For example, our original design was a two-story building but we switched to a single-story structure with high
ceilings in some places to gain a better building envelope,” recalls Stone. “We also ended up with a full LED-light package, a bicycle rack for employees and better finishes based on our assessor’s feedback.”
Now Halstead is taking what it learned through Green Globes certification and implementing features to upgrades of its other facilities. The company is also looking into an expansion of the center’s solar power generation.
“We learned a lot during the process,” Stone says. “We’re always seeking innovations and working to improve our products. In fact, our company is founded on innovation, a family atmosphere and sustainable mindset. Green Globes fits right into that. We are a Green Globes customer for life.”
