Endress+Hauser Canada will build a new C$28 million Customer Experience Centre a stone’s throw from its current one that will emphasize sustainability throughout. The new two-story approximately 4,365-square-metre building endeavors to achieve the LEED Gold certification standard and to function on a net zero carbon and net zero energy basis.
“Our goal is to create an exceptional facility in all respects that will not only be sustainable on the day it opens, but will still be considered as such decades from now,” said Anthony Varga, CEO, Endress+Hauser Canada.
The current 2,510-square-metre headquarters is primarily an administration building, with few customer services except for one classroom used for training purposes. The new facility, planned for occupancy in the fall of 2020, will be a full-fledged Customer Experience Centre featuring the company’s second Process Training Unit (PTU) in Canada as well as other world-class customer features such as a calibration laboratory, an expanded workshop and a large training centre.
The PTU concept, featured in Endress+Hauser facilities globally and most recently in Edmonton, is essentially a full sized pilot plant with a wide range of Endress+Hauser instrumentation installed.
“Our goal is to create an exceptional facility in all respects that will not only be sustainable on the day it opens, but will still be considered as such decades from now”
Anthony Varga, CEO and general manager, Endress+Hauser Canada
“All of our customers and partners will be able to come in and simulate process conditions that they would find in their own plants,” continued Varga. “They can try out various products in real world conditions to gain confidence in performance once installed at their own sites. That, in turn, will help them make proper instrumentation choices.”
Endress+Hauser is a global leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for the process sector. The new, larger facility reflects the company’s continuing strong growth in the Canadian market, says Varga stating that the company, locally and globally, operates on the philosophy that enhancing the customer experience is a key differentiator.
For employees, the new headquarters will have two cafes, a fully equipped health and fitness room, a wellness room for private time, as well as a multi-faith prayer room.
The new facility will be built on a four-acre site about 400 metres from the current one in Burlington. This means no disruption for employees and no additional emissions resulting from changed commuting patterns.
The building will be effectively off the hydro grid. Plans to achieve net zero energy and emissions include using a reflective roof with double sided solar panels to generate electricity during the day. At night, most electrically powered systems like video monitors will be turned off rather than drawing even standby power and the building environment will be maintained by heat pumps supplemented by a geothermal system.
Throughout the facility, Endress+Hauser products will be used – and showcased – as part of the building’s environmental control and monitoring systems. “We can measure any of the liquids flowing into and within the building, effluents or outputs in real-time and perform oxygen and environment analysis,” says Varga. “The entire facility will be a living showcase of the technology and solutions we offer our customers.”
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)