O’Brien Construction features ‘green’ headquarters

Just how green is O’Brien Construction’s new headquarters building in Troy?

When you pull up to the building on Livernois, the first tip is the electric vehicle charging station where a Chevy Volt quietly sits, “refueling”.

Enter a conference room and the lighting grows brighter with an adjustment to a skylight-type solar tube, not a bank of electric lights.

Those are just two of the many green features at O’Brien Construction Company, which has specialized in commercial and multifamily buildings for 50 years. O’Brien Construction saw the common sense in the ‘green’ construction industry trend and put those practices to use in building its new 25,000 square foot headquarters and garage.

For their green efforts, O’Brien Construction is one of the finalists for an Environmental Achievement Award from the Environmental Management Association. The winner will be announced on April 18 at the Detroit Athletic Club.

“We wanted to build a building that 20 years from now would still be very relevant in terms of energy efficiency,” said owner Tim O’Brien to explain why the company included so many eco-friendly systems in its new headquarters, including:

– geothermal heating and cooling,

– a dual use hot water system,

– energy efficient lighting,

– a conference table made from reclaimed wood from the walls of a demolished Hamtramck home,

– exterior walls that feature 5.5” of cellulose insulation, plus spray foam insulation for additional thermal and sound control,

– spray foam insulation under the roof, plus additional insulation on top of the roof, and

– a 500 gallon underground storage tank that captures rainwater from the roof. The water is then used for irrigating the facility’s landscaping.

Visit the O’Brien Construction Company website and view a video report about the new headquarters at: www.obriencc.com.

All of us at EctoHR, Inc. wish O’Brien Construction Company the best of luck at the upcoming Environmental Management Association award ceremony!

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