SAP America Inc.

• Geothermal
• Green/Vegetative Roof
• LEED Certified
• Local Materials
• New Construction
• Platinum
• Recycled Materials
• Stormwater Mitigation
• Urban

As of 2010, the 218,000-square-foot facility, housing 950 employees, is the third-largest new construction Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum level building on the planet. Evan Welsh, SAP AG’s global media relations specialist, explained it has ripple benefits, as well. 

Entry to the building is through a passageway that features a floor comprised of recycled materials, including seashells and pieces of crushed bottles and glass and the bamboo drop ceiling.

Glass panes access the employee courtyard with Maryland cypress trees, conifers that lose their needles in the winter.

Welsh explained that 45 percent to 50 percent of the building materials were required to be locally sourced, or gathered from a 500-mile radius, to meet the LEED standards.

Glass panels surround the building with the goal of directing 90 percent of daylight to reach 75 percent of the employees, Barrett explained, adding that it allows people to have an outside experience at their desk. One recent rainy day, Welsh said, “Even on a dreary day like this, it’s so bright in here.” Atlantic Plate Glass (APG) was a contactor on this project and is a member of AGI (Architectural Glass Institute)

Twenty-eight 6-ton glue lams created from Southern pine trees in New York line the windows, helping to support the structure. Barrett said wood was taken from six chestnut trees on the property to create 1,400 linear feet for a railing along the stairways that connect the four floors. He said the original design of the building would have cut straight through a grove of trees on the property, but the plans were redrawn so the building curved around most of the trees and only the six needed to be removed. Supplemental shades in the hallways activate automatically when the sun’s glare is very strong.

Digitized copies of artwork created by local students hang on the walls through a project commissioned by the nonprofit organization Fresh Artists, which uses proceeds from the works to purchase art supplies for Philadelphia public schools.

Underneath the floors are tubes that transfer the natural temperature of the Earth generated from the 10 geothermal wells in the rear of the property to the inside of the building. “It has the natural warmth of the Earth,” Barrett said. “This is like a giant radiator.”

In addition, there is a 50,000-gallon cistern on-site that captures the rainwater. Barrett said this has allowed SAP to reduce its water intake by more than 2 million gallons annually.

Swirl diffusers on the floor pump filtered air — hot or cool — through the facility. “You can tell the difference too,” Welsh said. “You don’t get as dried out.” Employees can control the temperatures near their workstations, in addition to the lighting in their area. However, the lighting will turn off automatically in five to 10 minutes if the sensors don’t register any activity. Then, Barrett said, “As soon as you enter the room, the lights go back on.”

Beneath the building is an ice storage unit featuring 16 Calmac containers that create 3,500 tons of ice each night and then melt down during the day. “Eighty-five percent of our cooling comes from that,” Barrett said, adding that the backup system is rarely used.

A rooftop garden spans more than 1 acre and features lavender, rosemary, sedum and butterfly bushes. “It’s quite beautiful up here,” Barrett said. “It’s a great entertaining space. You can say, ‘I’m on the roof.’” Besides, he added, the greenery is so soft it’s almost like carpet.

Even with all of these accoutrements, SAP’s vision for sustainability hasn’t ended. Besides adding a sand volleyball court, the company plans to change the light bulbs in the elevators and the parking garage to LED versions, Barrett said. These lights are expected to last 10 years, compared to the six to eight months experienced by the current ones.