BLOOMINGTON, MN (BRAIN)—Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) and LHB, Inc., an architectural design firm, have been selected as dual recipients of the 2008 Governor’s Award, an honor recognizing environmental achievements by Minnesota businesses, nonprofits, government and institutions.
Sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the award sites the companies’ collaboration to build an environmentally sustainable distribution center for QBP.
“The organizations we honor today have discovered unique ways to prevent waste and pollution through creativity, innovation and resourcefulness while often increasing efficiencies at the same time,” said Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty during an awards ceremony at the Bloomington Sheraton in late February. More than 1,500 people attended.
Over the last two years, QBP has launched a slate of aggressive initiatives to reduce the organization’s environmental footprint. Central to this effort was designing and constructing its new 35,000-square-foot office complex and 100,000-square-foot distribution center according to standards set by the U.S. Green Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The warehouse and office space features numerous energy-saving and waste-reducing interior features like extensive natural lighting, high-efficiency florescent lights, wall panels made from recycled paper products and water-stingy lavatories that save 45,000 gallons of water a year. QBP also installed a 40-kilowatt solar panel array—the largest installation in the Upper Midwest.
“This award gives us a good bench mark for assessing our own progress. As we look at other award recipients, we can learn from them and explore areas where we can improve,” said Steve Flagg, president of QBP. “Not only do these efforts make sense in terms of energy conservation and business economics, they’re great for employee morale and retention. It’s a classic case of win, win, win.”
