by Brianna Crandall — September 17, 2014—Minnesota-based transportation component solutions manufacturer Miller Ingenuity recently selected electronically tintable SageGlass, a product of global building materials company Saint-Gobain, to create a unique think-tank environment where employees and customers can drive new product innovation and problem solving. Miller Ingenuity is one of the first customers to install the next-generation SageGlass LightZone, with multi-zone tinting in a single pane of glass.
The company, which manufactures products for the rail industry, recently opened its “Creation Station” — a 1,200-square-foot, state-of-the-art collaborative space where everyone in the company and community can brainstorm new ways of doing business. The Google-like campus within the factory is reportedly the first of its kind in Minnesota, as well as for the U.S. manufacturing industry.
A key design objective of the Creation Station was to create a relaxing, inspirational environment in which anyone in the company or community—not just the engineering department—could better conceptualize solutions that meet the current and emerging needs of the industry. The area is also intended to serve as a high-tech think-tank resource for other organizations in the community to use during off-business hours.
Consequently, the company’s employees led the planning and design of the Creation Station, with a focus on providing abundant daylight, expansive outdoor views of nature, and “bringing the outdoors in.” To that end, the company installed a large, floor-to-ceiling wall of SageGlass, which maximizes daylight and outdoor views in buildings while controlling glare and heat gain. The glass can darken or clear manually or automatically to save energy and help keep building occupants continuously comfortable. The room can also be darkened on demand for presentations or when using an electronic smart board to capture ideas.
For the project, Miller Ingenuity selected SageGlass LightZone, promoted as the world’s first dynamic glass window system that enables variable tint zones within a single pane of glass. SageGlass LightZone allows the company to change the tint in three discrete sections in one pane of SageGlass, and each section can be set to any available tint level. This variability provides for even greater flexibility in managing solar heat gain and glare. With multiple zones in a single window, factors such as the changing angles of the sun throughout the day and seasons can be better managed to optimize daylight and preserve the outdoor view.
Sustainability was also a top priority for the project. The company wanted to achieve maximum energy efficiency in the air-conditioned pace, so SageGlass allowed the company to reduce the heating/ventilation/air-conditioning (HVAC) energy load when heat gain from the sun was most problematic.
“We looked at the business landscape where billion-dollar technology companies, such as Google and Apple, dominate the headlines and are revered for their creativity-supporting cultures and thought — our employees are just as forward-thinking,” said Steve Blue, Miller Ingenuity president and CEO. “If we want to keep manufacturing jobs in America, we need to invest in our employees and encourage them not to be afraid to try something new. We always need to out-think, out-innovate and out-perform the competition.”
The Miller Ingenuity Web site offers a video about the company’s new Creation Station and its philosophy.
