The North American Uponor Headquarters Annex manufacturing facility has achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Gold certification, through the United States Green Building Council Minnesota (USGBC). The 90,000-square-foot building supports the lean manufacturing operations for Uponor’s PEX plumbing, fire safety, radiant heating and cooling, hydronic piping, and pre-insulated piping systems.

During the design-to-construction process of the new building, PCL and Uponor focused on incorporating sustainability aspects into site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials and indoor environmental quality for the occupants.

Sustainable elements of the completed building include the installation of a solar array, use of a white roof system designed to reduce heat absorption and cooling requirements, all LED lighting, low-flow water fixtures, environmentally integrated landscaping and a high-efficiency irrigation system that utilizes collected rainwater when available. Collected rainwater is also filtered and used for plumbing fixture flushing. These efforts, in addition to other water-management techniques, combined to achieve 56 percent reduction in water usage and 25 percent reduction in energy usage compared to similar buildings using more conventional fixtures and technologies.

“The end-to-end process of designing and constructing a building to achieve LEED standards and certification requires a LEED-knowledgeable team and a joint effort and commitment throughout the project,” said Dan Hughes, director, Real Estate and EHS, Uponor North America. “PCL Construction was an ideal partner for this project and its LEED certification goal. They delivered an excellent finished product that allowed Uponor to achieve LEED Gold certification.”

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