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The year 2009 has been successful for Morley Builders in many respects, but most notably, the company, backed by enthusiastic employees with a die-hard desire for sustainable change, has reached the timely completion of a new maintenance and office facility in Montebello.
Great care was taken during the process of designing and building a new home for Morley employees and equipment. Employees were engaged to optimize worker amenities, services to be provided and overall building function. Morley’s in-house “Green Team” was enlisted to find sustainably-driven, cost-effective solutions that would enhance occupant health and optimize building performance. The result is a 25,168 sf structure located on a 100,000 sf previously deemed brownfield site conveniently situated in the heart of Los Angeles County.
Owned and operated by Morley Builders, the building is LEED Silver equivalent. It’s most notable sustainable feature is the incorporation of a 50.77kW CEC-AC roof-mounted photovoltaic panel system comprised of 288 panels, with a total estimated annual energy production of 88,535 kW-hrs/year. This size of the system is designed to meet approximately 70% of the site’s annual energy usage using energy maximizers. As technology progresses and equipment becomes more efficient, the building is anticipated to become nearly self sufficient.
Added sustainable highlights include a Sarnafil single-ply membrane roof system; a drywell for storm run-off; white concrete site work; fossil filters for roof and site drainage; native, drip-irrigated plant material; exterior and interior lighting controls; 21, 4’x8’ vented skylights; flash water heaters; and no VOC paints and coatings.
“We’re excited about the new facility and it’s potential for growth,” says Yard Director, Scott Paris. “We’re soon going to employ new software that, among many other benefits, will allow jobsites to track asset availability online prior to purchasing or renting from outside sources.”
Home to nearly 20 permanent and visiting employees, the tilt-up facility has two levels with a 5,000 sf exterior canopy and service bays to perform repair and maintenance functions on company equipment ranging from utility vehicles to concrete pumps. Repair stations are spacious and designed to provide Morley service technicians with the tools necessary to maintain company assets in excellent working condition.
Added key benefits to the yard’s capabilities include the space for safety testing and the construction of mock-ups when necessary. Morley’s “2009 Committee of Foremen” are currently developing a way to design and build “dead men,” which are large concrete blocks for personal fall protection. The dead men will be fabricated, tested to capacity, approved to meet OSHA requirements and distributed from the yard as ready-made kits for jobsite starts and training.
Material storage, file storage, individual offices, conference areas, a common kitchen, and restrooms with showers and lockers can all be found within the facility as well.