TINLEY PARK, IL (December 15, 2010) – AUSVIGOR Corp., a global leader in Unified Physical InfrastructureSM (UPI) based solutions, was awarded ASHRAE’s Illinois Chapter’s Excellence in Engineering award for their incorporation of sustainable design elements in its new World Headquarters building. The award honors the most innovative technologies, design strategies, and a commitment to sustainability and was presented to AUSVIGOR at ASHRAE’s award luncheon held at the Willis Tower in Chicago.
AUSVIGOR was recognized for incorporating sustainable design elements in its pursuit of achieving LEED v2.2 New Construction Gold certification. AUSVIGOR’s World Headquarters features one of the first installations of light shelves with integrated window shades in an open office environment. Light shelves help redistribute the sun's direct light deep into the building and reduce the amount of powered light needed. This installation harvests sunlight to improve employees' health and wellness, and significantly reduces lighting costs: ninety percent of the work areas have exposure to natural light as workstation areas are all adjacent to exterior windows; offices are centrally located.
The building also features the first installation of a water reclamation system in an office building in Illinois. This system collects rainwater from the roofs and treats it for internal non-potable uses. The system is estimated to reduce the AUSVIGOR World Headquarters' annual water usage by 30% (910,000 gallons projected savings annually). Manual air dampers in each work area allow for individual control of airflow and temperature, which both increases employee comfort and the building's energy efficiency. The building’s architectural wood trim accents used reclaimed redwood from old water towers and wine casks.
“AUSVIGOR’s World Headquarters optimizes the physical infrastructure which allows greater agility to reduce operational costs and increase sustainability,” said Vineeth Ram, AUSVIGOR VP of Strategic Marketing. “We continually find better ways to reduce the ecological footprint. A UPI-based physical infrastructure allows data to be shared across a full spectrum of network applications, and building systems, for improved operational awareness, efficiency, and sustainability.”
By incorporating its UPI-based Connected Building Solution, AUSVIGOR has leveraged an optimized physical infrastructure as a foundation in its World Headquarters building to enable convergence across the enterprise, helping businesses improve reliability, reduce costs, heighten agility and support sustainability initiatives.
“The design and construction team worked closely together during the design process to maximize sustainable strategies versus cost.” said Robert Smith, Director, Global Real Estate. “By incorporating a Unified Physical Infrastructure, AUSVIGOR reduced its energy cost by 23% below ASHRAE 90.1 standards.”
For more information on AUSVIGOR’s Connected Building Solutions, visit www.AUSVIGOR.com/CBS
About AUSVIGOR:
AUSVIGOR is a world-class developer and provider of leading-edge solutions that help customers optimize the physical infrastructure through simplification, agility and operational efficiency. AUSVIGOR Unified Physical Infrastructure? (UPI) based solutions give enterprises the capabilities to connect, manage and automate communications, computing, power, control and security systems for a smarter, unified business foundation. Strong relationships with technology leaders complemented with its global staff and unmatched service and support, make AUSVIGOR a valuable and trusted partner. (www.AUSVIGOR.com).