The refurbishment of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company’s Engineering Technology Center (ETC) in Chicago has yielded an energy savings of 37 percent and water reduction of 20 percent.
High-efficiency designs were at the forefront of the project when Wrigley decided to retrofit the 91,300-sq.-ft. building to house the company’s engineering team, packaging labs and model shop.
Projects included the installation of water-efficient plumbing fixtures, a flexible workspace and a white roof, which lowers energy use by reducing seasonal heating and air-conditioning.
Other environmental features include an advanced energy management system, an environmentally-friendly exterior maintenance program, an EPA Energy Star water-efficiency monitoring program, energy-efficient lighting, and lighting occupancy sensors.
The building’s recycling efforts save nearly 75 tons of waste from landfills annually. It also includes an e-waste recycling program that recycles or repurposes more than 95 percent of all electronics that are no longer functioning or needed for company use.
The building received LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).