Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) achieved LEED silver certification at its 850,000-square-foot regional manufacturing and distribution center in Victorville, Calif.
The facility, which opened in early 2010, is the first LEED-certified construction for the beverage company. Among features at the Victorville site to reduce energy usage, the plant uses high-efficiency lighting with occupancy sensors, advanced refrigeration recovery and control systems, and variable frequency drives throughout the manufacturing lines.
The plant receives its electricity from renewable energy and non-renewable sources that are offset entirely by purchased renewable energy credits.
To reduce water usage and wastewater discharge, the facility uses a reverse-osmosis filtration system and recovers 50 percent of the purification system’s discharge. The plant’s production lines use empty container de-ionized air rinsers, instead of water; advanced process and filling equipment designed to avoid unnecessary water usage, and efficient equipment cleaning systems.
Prior to its development, DPS had to shipped products cross-country from facilities on the East Coast – a costly, time-consuming and resource intensive process. The new hub has eliminated nine million miles of driving annually and the associated emissions.
Also earning recognition, NCR Corporation has achieved LEED certification for its Columbus, Georgia, manufacturing facility. NCR revamped a 25-year-old, 340,000-square-foot former battery manufacturing plant during 2009. The facility now produces ATMs, retail self check-out machines and DVD rental kiosks for the North American market, and it is one of just a few LEED-certified, retrofitted manufacturing plants in the U.S.
Specifically in its planning for sustainability, NCR re-used more than 70 percent of the interior building elements such as doors, walls and ceilings. 94 percent of the construction waste was diverted from landfills with more than 500 tons of construction waste recycled or re-used.
Power usage was reduced by more than 40 percent with a re-roofing project; now 95 percent of the surface has a Solar Reflective Index (SRI) of 84 or above. More efficient lighting fixtures replaced the old, and 78 percent of equipment is EPA Energy Star-rated.
The company purchased more than 40 percent of its building materials including glass, paint, ceiling tiles, carpet and other materials from local manufacturers within a 500 mile radius. Water usage at the plant was reduced by more than 40 percent by using an onsite pond to eliminate the use of potable water for irrigation of the site’s landscaping.
Reaching LEED gold-certified is biopharmaceutical company EMD Serono, an affiliate of Merck, with a new research center in Billerica, Mass. The R&D facility is one of only five research laboratories in Massachusetts to achieve the gold rating.
The 140,000-square-foot Billerica research facility opened in February, and represents a $65 million investment by the company. The building uses about 19 percent less energy and 72 percent less water than a comparable conventional building.
More than 20 percent of the building contains recycled content, while 95 percent of construction waste was recycled. Half of the wood is Forest Stewardship council certified, and solar panels generate electrical power for the lobby.
Other green features specific to the lab include high efficiency variable speed chillers; energy efficient cooling towers; high efficiency boilers; low flow fume hoods; low velocity/pressure drop, energy efficient air distribution systems; energy recovery systems on exhaust; low flow water system; and energy efficient lighting and controls.
