MALVERN, USA

Saint-Gobain & CertainTeed North American Headquarters

The Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed North American Headquarters is a PLATINUM LEED®-certified facility and a next-generation workplace that maximizes comfort and air quality through the use of a wide range of building material innovations from its own product portfolio, including materials from CertainTeed Corporation, SAGE, Saint-Gobain ADFORS, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and others from Saint-Gobain’s family of companies.

Over the past 40 years, Saint-Gobain’s portfolio of North American businesses has evolved and the former headquarters located in Valley Forge was no longer conducive to close cooperation across business units. The new state-of-the-art, modern facility promotes the cross-collaboration the company believes is essential for its businesses to succeed, as well as to attract and retain top talent. The new campus is three times larger than the company’s previous campus. In addition to accommodating additional business units, the campus has been designed to hold future businesses that are acquired by Saint-Gobain.

“The opportunity to bring together the long-term insights of marketing with the deep customer experience of sales and then combine them with the expertise of our scientists in one central location was too great an opportunity to pass up. It’s our belief that it will yield better products and solutions for our customers and consumers across North America,” said Minas Apelian, Vice President of Research & Development for CertainTeed Corporation. “Our inventors, problem-solvers and visionaries will be able to work better together to solve the world’s biggest challenges and make a material difference in the way people work, live and play.”

Living Laboratory

Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed’s Headquarters is a next-generation workplace that maximizes the comfort and health of employees through the use of a wide range of the company’s building materials that improve air quality, moisture management, acoustics, energy efficiency, thermal management and ergonomics. The installation of so many technologies has created a “living laboratory,” where the company’s research team can measure the impact its products have on a real workplace. The company asserts having its scientists work in a “living laboratory” will enhance product development and employees’ lives and is putting measurements in place to assess the impact on its occupants.

Objectives

The Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Headquarters was designed in close consultation with a number of local sustainability consulting firms, including The Sheward Partnership, Jacobs Engineering and Sustainable Solutions Corp. In addition to pursuing the USGBC’s LEED v3 Platinum certification for the commercial interior and LEED v3 Platinum certification for the core and shell, the headquarters is pursuing certification for The Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program.

The project strategies are meant to align with Saint-Gobain’s sustainability goals of energy efficiency, environmental stewardship and healthy working environments.The sustainable strategies incorporated into this project, in addition to the use of products from Saint-Gobain and its family of companies, include:

- Approximately 79 percent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from landfill disposal. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, construction and demolition waste makes up 17 percent of Pennsylvania’s entire municipal waste stream.

- Materials in the building were carefully selected to contain high levels of recycled content. Post consumer and -industrial recycled content reduced the negative impact resulting from the extraction and processing of raw materials.

- Special consideration was given to selecting locally manufactured materials. For example, furniture workstations were manufactured in East Greenville, Pa., and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. By specifying locally manufactured materials, less energy was spent to bring the products to the site.

- This project will achieve significant water savings through the use of low-flow plumbing fixtures.
The project is projected to use 40 percent less water than a conventional office building, saving 640,000 gallons of water per year.

- Interior finishes and furnishings installed in the building were specified to contain little or no VOCs. For example, low-emitting products used included adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, flooring, composite wood and furniture. Reducing the amount of VOCs entering the building provides a safer and healthier environment for building occupants.

- In an effort to significantly reduce the number of miles employees travel to and from the campus
the company is providing bicycle storage facilities, preferred parking for low-emission and fuel efficient vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations and a free shuttle service to and from the Paoli Station, which services Amtrak and SEPTA trains, for employees who choose to commute from Center City and other areas.