NRG Systems - Land and Community

Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. Through careful siting and design, green buildings can help preserve our natural resources and protect natural ecosystems. Through careful site selection and a collaborative design process, we created a new facility that minimizes our company’s environmental footprint on this planet.

Siting

After doing an extensive search for a place to relocate, we were happy to find another spot in Hinesburg, Vermont that was just a stone’s throw from our old leased building (affectionately known as the “tin box”). Our new building is set back from the road and situated on 9.5 acres of land—more than half of that land remained undisturbed by construction. Although our building measures 46,000 square feet, our unique hillside location gives us a building footprint of only 30,595 square feet. The building’s southern orientation and open floor plan allow us to take advantage of the natural sunlight and bring that light deep into the building’s core, reducing our need for lighting and cooling.

Design

Through a collaborative design process, we developed a building design that was attractive and functional and would optimize energy performance. The building's unique design provides light, fresh air, comfort and high functionality, which contribute to a healthy and productive working environment.
The building's brick red exterior complements the rural character of the village of Hinesburg. The warehouse’s white reflective roof helps reduce summer heat gain. The “TPO” roofing material avoids the use of vinyl compounds, which have harmful environmental effects. We also chose exterior lighting that reduces light pollution through the use of motion detectors and allows our neighbors to appreciate Vermont’s beautiful night skies.

	The entrance to our building welcomes visitors with color and light. Hand-painted tiles, depicting the history of wind energy, are sprinkled throughout the building’s stained concrete floor. High windows equipped with special “light guiding” blinds bring natural light into the core of the building. Skylights and operable windows throughout the building also bring in natural light. This helps to reduce our need for artificial lighting and cooling and allows employees to connect with the outdoors.
	Low office walls and the main “street” design of the hallway enhance the building’s open floor plan and encourage the chance meetings among employees that are so important to workplace productivity.
	A café/commons area with its 3-story stone fireplace offers a comfortable place for employees to gather and have meals.
	Windows between our warehouse and office areas give employees a view and sense of connection to both sides of the building.

Community

Although we looked at other cities and towns for a new site, we were happy to remain in Hinesburg, where we have been for several years. The town of Hinesburg, with a population of 4,000, was our company’s first real home and has been incredibly supportive to us over the years. Our building is located near the town center, giving us easy walking access to town services. In the future, we plan to build recreation paths around our building and through the community for the use of our employees and Hinesburg residents. Our building features showers and bike racks to make it convenient for our employees who choose car-free commuting or want to exercise during their workday.

Employment

The primary reason for building our new facility was to accommodate our fast-growing company. Our company’s growth has tracked the global wind industry’s growth. With 46,000 square feet of space, we now have ample room to continue to grow our workforce and create new, high quality jobs for Vermonters. We expect to more than double our workforce over the next 5 years.