The North American Uponor headquarters annex has achieved LEED Gold certification. The new 90,000-sq-ft building supports the lean manufacturing operations for Uponor’s PEX plumbing, fire safety, radiant heating and cooling, hydronic piping, and pre-insulated piping systems.

To receive LEED certification, project teams must follow strict guidelines across a wide variety of sustainable design and construction practices. During the design-to-construction process, PCL Construction 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% reduction in water usage and 25% 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,” says Dan Hughes, director of real estate and EHS for 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.”

This is the fifth major expansion PCL has completed for Uponor. Currently, PCL is working on a 58,000-sq-ft addition to this recently completed annex project. That addition, which is being constructed to the same LEED Gold standards, is expected to complete in December 2017.