Sally Applegate, August 5, 2010. Osgood Landing is getting a name — and a color — for itself: green.
The huge facility has been revamped to employ the latest green technologies and is also home to several green businesses. Osgood Landing hosted a Green Energy Summit sponsored by the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce on May 5.
On Aug. 13 from 8:30 a.m. to noon, Osgood Landing will host a seminar led by Congressman John Tierney, on “Growing Green Jobs: Funding and Resources to Green Our Economy.”
The seminar is aimed at helping local businesses connect with grant-making agencies and business-development organizations, to learn about green job funding, training, and resources in the Merrimack Valley area (see related see Page 9).
North Andover Community Development Director Curt Bellavance says Osgood Landing is becoming a leading center for green technology organizations.
Ellen J. Keller, vice president of Commercial Real Estate at Osgood Landing, says green industries are among the strongest of today’s industries.
“Without question, the green industries are the healthiest and most exciting ones out there,” Keller said this week.
When Ozzy Properties and Osgood Landing LLC took over the old Lucent Technology complex they initiated new greener technology at the site. The company is a proponent for clean energy and cutting energy costs.
“We have almost 40 percent of this building leased, with more than 45 companies already here,” says Keller. “We bought the property in 2003, and after Lucent left in 2004 we made an absolute decision to retrofit this property with green technology.”
Osgood Landing supports all forms of “Green-Tech” and is the only building in the area that can offer 550,000 square feet of manufacturing space on one floor, according to Keller. It can also house offices, manufacturers and distributors of all sizes. This landlord does not exclude non-green businesses, but has been focusing its marketing efforts on clean technologies. Here are three green companies already in place in the large North Andover facility.
· In 2009 Baystate Biofuels announced its opening at Osgood Landing as the first full-scale commercial facility dedicated to biodiesel distribution in Massachusetts. Baystate Biofuels owner Jesse Reich hopes to create up to 300 jobs within the next three to five years.
· Nexamp, founded by Dan Leary, provides comprehensive and cost-effective energy and carbon reduction solutions and services for businesses and homes. Nexamp was chosen to install 4.1 megawatts of solar energy at 12 public water and wastewater treatment facilities across Massachusetts as part of the federal stimulus grant.
· PanelClaw develops environmentally friendly mounting solutions for photovoltaic modules. The large solar array on the roof of the Osgood Landing facility employs PanelClaw components. The fastest growing tenant at Osgood Landing, PanelClaw has doubled the size of its warehouse and is in the process of doubling its office space. The building offers its tenants limitless expansion opportunities.
Keller says Ozzy Properties has acted to reduce energy consumption at Osgood Landing since taking over the property. The company specializes in bringing existing buildings back to life rather than building new ones.
The original Western Electric Company building, which became Lucent and is now Osgood Landing, was designed in the 1950s before the age of energy conservation.
The oversized and inefficient oil boilers have been replaced with efficient gas boilers, reducing carbon emissions, fuel consumption, and operating expenses.
The building’s heat and air conditioning system has been revamped with new software upgrades, and now draws in natural air when the outside temperature is between 32 and 60 degrees, allowing free cooling and major energy savings.
The oversized power grid needed by Western Electric is no longer necessary, and Osgood Landing has been consolidating and refiguring transformers throughout the facility. These combined efforts have reduced energy consumption by over 50 percent so far.
A 175- kilowatt solar array was installed on the roof in 2008 by Nexamp and is providing a large amount of power to the building.
In a new agreement with Wheelabrator of North Andover, Osgood Landing will use low-grade waste heat from Wheelabrator’s electricity generating process. This will be the first system of its type in New England. Link to Article