Tucked in the hills of Middlebury, CT, just a few miles west of the Waterbury, is Timex Group’s corporate headquarters.  The building sits on top of the aptly named Watch Hill.  As you approach the building, there in front of you is something that looks more like a sporting arena than an office building.  Designed by Connecticut based, Fletcher Thompson, the layout is based on the new millennium office with no walled offices, but instead wide open spaces.  Now the Timex campus has one more unique feature; one of the largest ground mounted solar arrays in New England.  In all, 800 panels to be exact.

This morning, I attended a celebration at the facility for employees, the community, the media and elected officials as they turned on the switch to the new array.  This part of the state is rich in manufacturing history and in the day, the time-industry was a big part of the economy.  Timex traces its roots to the 1850s and Seth Thomas was just up the road in Plymouth making clocks. While the firm no longer manufacturers in Connecticut, they still have made a huge commitment to the environment.  The photovoltaic (PV) system, installed by Alteris Renewables, Inc.  of Wilton, CT, cost $2.5 million and consists of 27 rows of 244kW solar panels on the watchmaker’s property. It is designed to generate 285,439 kilowatt-hours a year – enough electricity annually to power nearly 32 average Connecticut homes. The system output will avoid over 6.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide, 28,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 11,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide over the 25-year life of the system.  The company received a $920,000 grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and tax credits.

One of the really cool features of the array is that the company has also installed a Web portal from Fat Spaniel Technologies to power a kiosk in its headquarters lobby, which provides access to instant status updates and historical performance data for its solar energy system.

Besides the solar array the company has also made a commitment to use lead-free batteries in all its watches and has reduced energy consumption at its main manufacturing facility by 25%. 

“Converting sunlight into electricity is an important component of our plan to lessen our environmental footprint,” said Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, Timex Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer at this morning’s event. “We are completely reviewing how we implement ongoing strategies for continued success in energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, recycling and paper use – both in our operations and our consumer packaging.”

At the Middlebury facility they have also eliminated the use of Styrofoam in the cafeteria.  Speaking of which, the menu today was in honor of the solar panel celebration.  Not hot dogs and hamburgers but Israeli cous cous with artichokes, feta and sun dried tomatoes and bulgur wheat with root vegetables primavera style.  For dessert, Apple Cobbler, made with locally grown apples. 

Timex is one more company that’s running way ahead of the times.

Filed under: Green Buildings, Green Business, Green Technology