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,” spokesman
Bill
Riley said. “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.