Stiebel Eltron, a manufacturer of water heaters and solar heating products, will open a 32,000-sq.-ft. facility in mid-September at its North American headquarters in West Hatfield, Mass.
The company will use the new building primarily as a warehouse. It will feature a number of green construction elements including radiant floor heating, a green roof and 48 Stiebel Eltron flat-plate solar panels on that roof.
Helping to make the roof green will be sedum plants, which will take root in a bed of fine gravel and soil. Layers of fabric will lie below.
“The roof is designed so it insulates in the winter and provides evaporative cooling in the summer,” spokesmanBill Rileysaid. “The roof is tapered from the center with drainage around the periphery.”
Under the roof, the floor of the building contains six miles of PEX tubing for the radiant system. The radiant system will work in conjunction with the solar thermal elements.
The warehouse will adjoin a showroom that features working displays of the company’s solar heating products. The showroom opened a couple years ago.
