Completion Date: 2008
Square Footage: 166,000
LEED NC Platinum

Awards:
Top Ten Green Projects Award, 2009
AIA/COTE

Merit Award Winner, 2009
AIA-Minneapolis

Public Education Category Honor Award, 2008
American Planning Association, Minnesota Chapter

Gold ARC Award, 2008
Consulting-Specifying Engineering New Construction

Aggregate & Ready Mix Large Commercial Building project Award, 2008
Building Excellence Awards

Green Award, 2008
TEKNE

We designed Great River Energy's (GRE) 166,000 square foot corporate headquarters on a 12.5-acre site in Maple Grove. As an electric utility company, GRE is aware of its role in protecting the environment and earned LEED® Platinum certification as a way to measurably demonstrate their commitment to the environment.

With a strong focus on energy efficiency, the new office building adheres to environmentally sustainable building practices. Energy consumption is reduced by 50 percent and water use is reduced by 40 percent compared to standard new buildings. Seventy-five percent of the construction waste is diverted from landfills. Stormwater runoff is captured in rain gardens throughout the parking areas.

As a bold step into the future, GRE transforms wind energy into electricity through an on-site wind turbine, transforms solar energy into electricity through roof-mounted photo-voltaic cells and uses solar energy to generate domestic hot water through a roof-mounted solar thermal system.