Mountain Hardwear showcased its unique approach toward sustainability and its environmentally friendly facility at an open house celebration last week at its new home in the historic Ford Building in Richmond.
   The Ford Assembly Plant Building, located directly on the San Francisco Bay, was designed in 1930. The Ford Motor Company built automobiles in the plant from 1931 to 1955 except for the three years from 1942 to 1945 when the plant was converted to war-time production.
   By re-appropriating some of its open factory space, the original suite of managers’ offices and the former product showroom, Mountain Hardwear designed and built their space with a focus on sustainability. One-hundred percent of its annual electrical needs will be supplied by on-site solar power through its neighbor in the building, SunPower.
    The large skylights and banks of windows allowed Mountain Hardwear to install less fluorescent lighting per square foot than would have been possible elsewhere. The open space lighting is controlled by photo cells, so output is less when there is enough natural light. All the offices and meeting rooms have motion detectors to turn off the lighting when the rooms are not in use. The ventilation system will draw in the cool bay air during the summer months in order to reduce the use of air conditioning.
    The showrooms use entirely natural, nontoxic, dye free, wool/hemp/cotton, bio-degradable carpeting. The employee store uses compressed bamboo flooring, and the recreational room uses flooring tiles made from recycled tires. Furniture is PVC free.
    The company plans to provide employees with bicycles and kayaks to take a ride along or in the bay. There is also a shuttle bus free to employees that runs every weekday morning and evening from the Ford Point Building to the Richmond BART station.