The solar-powered administration building at Nokian Tyres’ North American production facility has earned LEED v4 Gold certification.

Nokian says inspectors highlighted the administration building’s design, energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality as key drivers of the certification level. Highlights include solar power, low-emitting building materials and a high level of natural lighting throughout the facility.

Fueled by solar energy, the 26,000-sq.-ft. administration building serves Nokian Tyres’ growing workforce at the factory. The company says it is currently hiring nearly 150 workers there in the first half of 2021.

A bank of solar panels anchored in the parking lot provides power to the administration building and generates energy for a portion of the production process. The three-megawatt panels can generate approximately 4,000 megawatt-hours of solar energy each year, which would be enough to power more than 500 homes, the company says.

Nokian Tyres opened the Dayton Factory in 2019 and says it is ramping up production there, with full capacity of approximately four million tires per year expected once ramp-up is complete. The company says the factory will decrease delivery lead times to North American customers and allow the company to tailor its product mix to the needs of drivers in the region.