HOME // NEWS // VIEW

2008 Green Builder of the Year from The Business Journal

by Pete Millard

Sustainable Building Solutions & Hunzinger Construction Company are wrapping up work this month on what promises to be one of the most sustainable or "green" business campuses in the Midwest and will apply for the U.S. Green Building Council's highest standard for excellence - a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum Certification.

Johnson Controls Inc., Glendale, a Fortune 500 company that is a national leader in energy management and efficiency practices, hired the Brookfield contracting firm as construction manager for its $73 million, 413,000 square-foot green makeover and expansion of the company's headquarters complex.

Hunzinger gutted and rebuilt three existing buildings at the Johnson Controls headquarters and constructed two buildings - a 94,700 square-foot Power Solutions headquarters and a 29,700 square-foot annex that includes a cafe, meeting rooms and fitness center.

The projects green features for the campus include high-efficiency light fixtures, increases in the use of natural light with more windows and skylights, and a biofiltration system that collects runoff through permeable pavement.  The runoff will be used as "brown" water for flushing toilets, which will save about 360,000 gallons of water a year.

The Power Solutions buildings also have a solar thermal roof and there is a 400 kilovolt-ampere solar array on the corporate grounds that takes up more than 31,000 square feet.  The buildings also use geothermal heating and cooling systems that circulate water from 272 wells that reduce operation costs by 29 percent in the winter and 57 percent in the summer.  A new parking structure will include stalls for "plug and drive" vehicles of the future.

Hunzinger's field expertise in green building is further supported by the construction firm's dedication to continuing education.  "Hunzinger Construction University" features a curriculum that helps engineers, architects and other construction professionals obtain their LEED-accredited professional certificates.  The university is designed for the company's professional staff, but allows other companies to send employees the the continuing education venue.

Frank Falsetti, a Hunzinger business development specialist, said 150 people have attended the month-long, one-day-a-week LEED program and 75 have acheived LEED Accredited Professional status.

"Hunzinger has prepared a quality presentation on how the construction compnay and its process has an impact on sustainable design." said Ursula Twombly, an architect and principal at Continuum Architects, who has had eight of her employees attend Hunzinger Construction University.

< More News