Honda Engineering North America, Inc.’s Powertrain Division in Anna, Ohio, and Honda Canada, Inc.’s new head office in Markham, Ontario, have each earned LEED “green-building” certification, bringing to eleven the number of LEED-certified Honda facilities in North America, the most LEED-certified buildings of any automaker. Honda Engineering North America’s Anna facility has earned LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, while Honda Canada’s head office has earned LEED-Gold certification from the Canada Green Building Council.
“Our environmental efforts extend well beyond the products we make and include the facilities that support Honda’s manufacturing, R&D, sales and service operations across North America,” said David Strelow, facilities manager for the Anna Engine Plant, who was involved in the construction of the new facility. “This is part and parcel of our commitment to being good neighbors in the communities where we do business and good stewards of the environment and our finite natural resources.”
During construction of the expanded facility, the company used locally sourced materials where possible and diverted more than 185 cubic yards of construction material from landfills, recycling or reusing more than 50 percent of total construction materials. The expanded facility is now equipped with cool-roof materials, more energy-efficient lighting controls and advanced indoor-air-quality management systems.
Water conservation measures in the facility include the use of low-flow toilets and bathroom fixtures, which have reduced the building’s water use by approximately 30 percent from earlier levels. Annual CO2 emissions from the facility have been cut by approximately 470,000 pounds.
“In order to serve the needs of Honda manufacturing facilities, we needed additional engineering resources,” said Mark Starrett of Honda Engineering North America’s Powertrain Division. “While building out these new capabilities, we also identified an opportunity to further Honda’s environmental goals and to reduce our environmental footprint.”
Honda
Canada’s new 138,000-square-foot head office, one of three buildings on the company’s 53-acre campus in Markham, Ontario, utilizes a north-south orientation along with an energy efficient underfloor air-distribution system and a heat-reflective white roof to reduce energy consumption. Innovative water management at the new facility has reduced potable water consumption by 44 percent, compared to the company’s previous facility. Also, landscape design provides for on-site storm water treatment through the use of bioswales and water collection. During construction of the campus, the company used locally sourced materials where possible, and diverted construction material from landfills, recycling or reusing 75 percent of total construction materials.
“Honda’s environmental vision is to help preserve the global environment for generations to come, and includes broad-based efforts to minimize our company’s environmental footprint” said Jerry Chenkin, executive vice president, Honda Canada. “Achieving LEED-Gold certification for our facility in Markham demonstrates our commitment to this vision.”
Honda has been steadily expanding its portfolio of LEED-certified green buildings in North America since 1999, where they built and became the first company in the United States to be a mixed-use industrial building in America to achieve LEED-Gold EB (Existing Building) certification.
In addition to the new Markham, Ontario, and Anna, Ohio, facilities, the company’s green building portfolio in North America includes:
- American Honda parts warehouse and training facility in Gresham, Oregon, now LEED-Platinum certified
- American Honda data center in Longmont, Colorado, the first LEED-Version 2.2. Silver-certified data center in the U.S.
- American Honda parts consolidation center in Troy, Ohio (LEED-Gold);
- American Honda Finance Corp.’s Mid-Atlantic Region facility in Wilmington, Delaware (LEED-Gold CI for Commercial Interiors)
- Honda R&D Americas, Inc.’s Acura Design Studio in Torrance, California; its Marine Engine Research Facility in Grant-Valkaria, Florida; and its central plant facility in Raymond, Ohio (all LEED-Gold)
- Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC’s welcome center at its auto plant in Greensburg, Indiana (LEED)
- Honda Aircraft Company, Inc.’s world headquarters, R&D facility and the home of the HondaJet very light jet, in Greensboro, North Carolina (LEED-Gold)
Green building features at Honda facilities in the U.S. include such items as conservation easements; low-flow bathroom and kitchen fixtures; more energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems, lamps and lighting controls; Energy Star-rated appliances; cool roof materials; and wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
