Crown Embraces Sustainable Future
Crown Uniform & Linen Service, Nashua, NH, has spent the past 18 months taking a 20-acre eyesore and turning it into a new 94,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art “green” laundry plant in Brockton, MA. A $16 million investment, it has been thoughtfully designed, from choice of building materials to tiered architectural design and community aesthetics, to its streamlined layout, innovative equipment and integrated sustainability processes.
The new facility is slated to open in the fall of 2014, and will feature energy efficient technologies. According to a news release, plant equipment was chosen for its working efficiencies, as well as its ability to reduce the impact on the environment. High-efficiency boilers using natural gas with specialized controls will capture, instead of vent, the heat, which will be filtered and reused to heat the building. New workflow systems include an electronic garment sorting system, and Crown’s emphasis on quality control, which moves to the front of the plant and is the final stop before clean goods are prepared for delivery trucks.
A water filtration unit will perform as a fully automated wastewater treatment and water recycling system, and one that is chemical free. Crown expects to reduce its annual water consumption by about 4.7 million gallons a year. In addition, a new rainwater collection system features dual holding tanks with a capacity of 32,000 gallons. Filtered rainwater will be used throughout the laundry as well as for landscaping and maintenance. The roof will be pre-wired for 55 square feet of solar panels, part of Crown’s second phase of its “Green Roof Plan,” according to the release.