A building that produces more energy than it needs – it was with this vision in mind that sensor manufacturer elobau of Leutkirch in the Allgäu region approached the expansion of existing plant 2.Following a seven-month planning period, the building phase officially commenced on June 6, 2011 with a ground breaking ceremony. Company owner and Executive Director Michael Hetzer expressed confidence that the tight schedule, which anticipates completion by the end of December 2011, will be met. “Just three years after completing our latest production facility No. 2, we are again bursting at the seams with our 450+ employees, and the search for qualified employees will continue due to growth,” said Hetzer. R Günter Schleiff from Architects HHS Hegger+Hegger+Schleiff from Kassel stated that: “We have a great respect for the high-quality architecture of the first construction stage, which we will incorporate into the building expansion designs”. The additional floor space of 3,300 m2 will be supplied with power by a sophisticated combination of photovoltaics, heat recovery, and micro gas turbines. Over the course of the year, the building should generate an energy surplus and feed this energy back into the public power supply network as electricity. The large solar generator, with a capacity of approx. 230 KWp, will cover nearly the entire production complex and the office building structure situated above it. The new building embraces the “elobau goes green idea” and demonstrates both consistency and commitment. In 2010 elobau succeeded in making the company and its products carbon neutral. Together with the energy consultants at EGS-plan from Stuttgart, the architects have succeeding in designing a net positive energy building that contributes to the existing measures for compensating for the CO2 emissions generated. The new building will provide manufacturing space for the liquid level measurement section, the new electronic SMD assembly lines and associated administration offices. As a result, much needed space for additional production capacity will be made available in plant No. 1. During the course of the expansion project, elobau will also be adding considerable space for training. In 2012, a separate training workshop will be set up, providing up to 15 apprentices per year with high-quality vocational training, including such topics as Process Automation and Robotics. After the individual departments have moved into their new facilities, expanded plant No. 2 will be officially inaugurated in the summer of 2012. The company is already looking to the future – Potential expansion concepts were integrated in the current building design.
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