In 1996, Owens Corning selected Hines as development manager for its new, $120 million world headquarters facility. Completed in the same year, the 45-acre campus is anchored by a 370,816-square-foot, three-story headquarters building. Following the construction phase, Hines was hired to provide facility management services for an initial three-year period.
Owens Corning World Headquarters
In 2007, the facility became Hines’ first certified project in the LEED® for Existing Buildings (EB) program, earning a Silver designation, which was upgraded to the Gold level in 2011. The firm was also instrumental in earning the ENERGY STAR® Label for the property in 2005, 2006 and 2008-2021. Hines has led many sustainability initiatives for the site including Wildlife Habitat Council certification, installation of a 2.9 MW solar array, and is currently executing programs in support of a Zero Waste to Landfill initiative. In recognition of its accomplishments, Hines qualified for Owens Corning’s highest facility-management grades, resulting in the highest available bonus award.
Throughout the project, the Hines team addressed challenges head on with a positive attitude and demonstrated leadership behaviors aligned with those of Owens Corning. In addition to the positive impacts of the Hines team’s efforts, its dedication to safety and sustainability was commendable.
Since inception, Hines has continuously managed the client’s HQ location, including construction management oversight of the Owens Corning Workplace Forward Project, a $30 million effort to inspire their workforce at the highest level and modernize the facility for the next 20 years. Temporarily displaced tenants were moved in and out of “swing space”, a temporary suite designed with all the amenities needed to support everyday office functions and minimize transitional difficulties. Due to the creative, client-focused execution of this renovation, as well as the strong customer service provided by the property team throughout, Hines received the Owens Corning Supplier of The Year Award in 2019, selected from over 20,000 suppliers.
Owens Corning had the following to say about Hines and the work on the complete building workplace renovation and construction:
Hines has shown tremendous dedication to ensure that operations at Owens Corning’s World Headquarters continued uninterrupted during the remodeling project known as Workplace Forward. Hines committed to complete the comprehensive project in 18 months without moving anyone from the building and without affecting day-to-day operations or productivity of the fully occupied building. The project was broken into 12 distinct phases, each requiring extensive planning, execution and the inevitable real-time problem-solving inherent in any renovation project.
The Hines team, consisting of both construction management and facility management staff, were tireless in their dedication to success and meeting the guiding principles they committed to. Throughout the project, the Hines team addressed challenges head on with a positive attitude, and demonstrated leadership behaviors aligned with those of Owens Corning. In addition to the positive impacts of the Hines team’s efforts, its dedication to safety and sustainability was commendable.
The team worked 31,000 hours with no recordable safety incidents. Hines diverted over 87% of the project waste through recycling, reuse, or donation. Additionally, feedback from organizations that worked with Hines to coordinate donations was overwhelmingly positive. Finally, the Hines team has not missed a single scheduled move-in date. The Hines team’s long hour, weekend, second-shift work, and overall can-do attitude were the “secret-sauce” to the success of the Owens Corning refresh project.
In 2020, Owens Corning World Headquarters achieved Fitwel certification. In a nod to Owen Corning’s dedication to employee wellness, Fitwel awarded a 2-Star certification rating to the headquarters and at the time, became the only Fitwel-certified building in Northwest Ohio and one of only five in the state.
During the global pandemic, the Hines onsite team led the HQ’s distribution of COVID-19 supplies and materials to all of their sites world-wide the onsite facilities team and illustrated its value to Owens Corning’s worldwide efforts by leveraging our commitment to outstanding service.
As a result of the firm’s professionalism, experience and technical expertise, the management agreement continues to be renewed. In 2021, our facilities management assignment was renewed for another four years.