NRG SYSTEMS, INC.
Commercial

*Location: 110 Riggs Road, Hinesburg, Vermont 05461
*Company: NRG Systems, Inc. Producers of Wind Metering Systems.
*Square Feet: 46,000
*Year Built: 2003-2004
*Annual Energy Use: 140,000 kW
* Website: http://www.nrgsystems.com/about/green_building.php

*Renewable Energies and Sustainable Practices:
-67 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system (largest system in Vermont) including 12 solar trackers in front of the building and 42 kW of building mounted PV panels
- 12 “Sunny Boy” solar inverters
- 2 home-sized wood pellet boilers to heat the entire building
- 10 kilowatt wind turbine (in the permitting process Fall 2004)
- Solar hot water heater on the roof
- 8 miles of tubing circulates through the building floors to heat and cool the building
- window ventilation controlled according to need with nursing light system
- Wood in building is from Bristol (roughly 15 miles away), certified sustainable wood
- energy efficient windows: level 5 R-rated glass, Accurate Dorwin triple glass layers filled with argon gas, and sunshades which automatically adjust to lighting
- Airtight and Double insulated walls and roof, super-insulated steel structure
- 3” thick office walls, 4” thick warehouse walls, insulated with sheet and spray foam
- employees use laptops and Energy-star rated appliances in kitchen and warehouse
- natural lighting and compact fluorescents on motion and daylight dimming sensors
- Energy Recovery Unit: recovers 75% of the energy and heat that is expelled

*Motivations:
David Blittersdorf and his wife own NRG Systems in Hinesburg. He has been a renewable energy supporter in both his personal and professional life. The building is an expression of his ideals and values. When building the new facility, it was not even a question as to whether he would use every possible renewable energy technology to build an energy efficient building.

*Design/Build:
NRG worked with William Maclay Architects and Planners, a sustainable architect from Waitsfield, VT, and Andy Shapiro to consult on the sustainable technologies. David Blittersdorf researched much of the sustainable technologies and worked considerably throughout the process to ensure that the building was what they wanted. Breadloaf Construction built the facility.

*Costs and Incentives:
NRG spent about $450,000 on the initial installation of their renewable and efficiency technologies. The operating costs of the building are extremely low, and the technologies are expected to pay themselves off in the next few years. The company received a 10% tax break from the federal government. David Blittersdorf stated that he hopes that there will be more federal tax incentives for sustainable building practices.

*Benefits of the Building:
David Blittersdorf spoke on the benefits of having his employees work in a facility that they both respect and enjoy. He said, “The biggest payoff for the building is worker productivity”. Blittersdorf feels that employees work harder in this facility than they would in a building and for a company in which they were less personally invested.

 

VERMONT RENEWABLE ENERGIES
a STUDY of the DISTRIBUTION and APPLICATION of RENEWABLES in VERMONT