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Alpharetta, Ga. — March 6, 2015 — ThyssenKrupp Elevator has reaffirmed its commitment to the role sustainability plays in its business practices as well as employee health and safety through the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED certification: Its Middleton, Tenn., facility, is the only elevator factory in the world to receive LEED for Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance Gold Certification.
“This facility was built in 1969, when green building practices were not on the radar. So, we are tremendously proud our team was able to attain this impressive level of certification for a facility built almost 50 years ago.” said Rich Hussey, president and CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas.
"Our efforts benefit both ThyssenKrupp and the state of Tennessee because we are able to use less energy and water, reduce our emissions, and create a healthier working environment for our employees.”
The biggest stride made in the pursuit of certification was improving the plant's air quality. “We increased the amount of outside air to ventilate the space by about 150,000 cubic feet per minute, which translates to about 216,000,000 cubic feet per day,” said Brad Nemeth, vice president of sustainability, ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas.
“Along with other energy saving measures, we integrated a building management system into the factory to control the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning remotely. In total, our efforts save 3,317,684 kilowatt hours of electricity per year — enough to power all the homes in Middleton, Tennessee, all year round.
"We also installed low-flow fixtures and entirely eliminated outside irrigation by using native grasses and plants in our landscape, saving 620,000 gallons of water annually.”
Officials from the USGBC said, "LEED certification identifies ThyssenKrupp Elevator Manufacturing as a showcase example of sustainable design and demonstrates your leadership in transforming the building industry."
The company’s LEED Gold certified Tennessee factory produces the most energy efficient elevators in North America as certified by third-party TÜVRheinland, the leading provider of product testing and certifications in the worldwide marketplace.
In addition, this facility manufactures an elevator control system that meets the highest levels of efficiency based on the VDI 4707 European standard for measuring and comparing elevator energy use.
About LEED: The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED, developed by the USGBC, promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human environmental health: sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
About Thyssenkrupp: ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas is the largest producer of elevators in the Americas, with more than 15,500 employees, in more than 230 branch and service locations. ThyssenKrupp Elevator Americas oversees all business for the operations in the United States, Canada, Central and South America. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG. ThyssenKrupp, a global technology and materials group headquartered in Essen, Germany, which employs around 155,000 people in just under 80 countries.
