Tremco to Renovate its Headquarters; Focuses to Earn LEED Gold Certification

Tremco Incorporated (Tremco), which has provided building owners and managers with sustainable solutions for decades, is now turning its attention to its own headquarters, originally built in 1970, with a $5 million, top-to-bottom renovation that will transform the building into a showcase of sustainability. 

Tremco intends that its headquarters becomes one of the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) few LEED Gold certified facilities in Ohio.

Tremco Incorporated is owned by RPM Building Solutions Group (RPM BSG), a part of RPM International. Numerous solutions will be provided by companies that are a part of RPM BSG, including Canam Building Envelope Specialists (interior air sealing); Increte Systems (decorative concrete), a division of Euclid Chemical Company, which makes numerous products for the concrete industry; Tremco Commercial Sealants & Waterproofing (sealants and gaskets) and Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance (vegetated, cool and photovoltaic roofing systems).  Also incorporated into the project will be an Outsulation® insulated exterior wall cladding system from RPM sister company Dryvit® Systems, Inc.  Tremco Incorporated subsidiary WTI will act as general contractor for the project, which includes the management and training of all subcontractors.

"This renovation gives us an exceptional opportunity to show our commitment to sustainability to our customers, staff, suppliers and others," said President Randy Korach.  "We intend to create a truly high-performance, sustainable facility that integrates our rich array of corporate solutions and highlights the use of construction best practices.

"Our objectives are to improve energy efficiency and conserve water; reduce operational costs; provide a safer, healthier facility for our employees; and protect the natural environment by reducing our carbon output, lowering the local heat island effect, and recycling and reusing material to keep it from being hauled to a landfill.  The retrofit aligns with our broader vision for sustainability at Tremco, which involves becoming a global leader in sustainable development," added Korach.    

The renovation's most noteworthy sustainable features include:

• Four types of sustainable roofing systems from Tremco
  • A vegetated roof featuring local plants.  Low impact lighting and a water capture system will be integrated with the roof, as will a pathway of recycled materials.  Signs will describe the roof's features and provide information about the plant palette.
  • The ENERGY STAR® qualified Rock-It™ roof surfacing system, composed of white gravel set in white adhesive.
  • A white, reflective, single ply system installed beneath a rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system.
  • A thin film rooftop PV system that will be used to generate electricity for the building.
• A Dryvit Outsulation Plus® MD exterior wall system featuring Dryvit's TerraNeo™ finish.   The system provides an energy efficient, insulated facade and can be applied directly to the existing slate, eliminating the time and potential waste of removing the facade.
• High-performance, double pane, tinted windows that exceed minimum energy standards.  Tremco sealants and gaskets will be used, as will Tremco's Proglaze® ETA (Engineered Transition Assembly) to ensure an airtight transition from window to wall.
• New sidewalks, with decorative concrete from Increte Systems, that will be supported by gravel from one of the building's existing roofs.
• A 1.8kW rated wind turbine installed on the property to help generate electricity.
• Numerous interior upgrades such as ADA-compliant restrooms, interior window treatments, elevator modernizations with eco-friendly technology and ADA compliance.
• Mechanical/Engineering/Plumbing upgrades such as a new control system that ensures an accurate operating schedule of HVAC and lighting as well as improved zone control; modifications to the central air handling system to enable variable flow, resulting in significant energy savings; and replacing the cooling tower with a variable speed model that also eliminates the need for water treatment.

Construction best practices that WTI and its subcontractors will follow to increase the project's sustainability include:

• Onsite sorting of materials
• Recycling of all non-hazardous material
• Chain-of-custody documentation for all off-site recycling
• Reusing materials as applicable
• Verifying that materials are certified for LEED credit

To support the company's efforts to attain LEED Gold certification, an independent commissioning agent will verify the impact of the various solutions on building performance.

According to Korach, "We have upgraded our headquarters before to take advantage of new technologies, but we have never done so in a manner this large, this integrated or this meaningful.  While it is important to us to reach LEED Gold certification, it is even more important that we have a facility our employees are proud to work in, is good for the environment and shows our customers what can be done when an organization is committed to sustainable construction."

Source: http://www.tremcogreenhq.com/