Environmental Concern

As with all BMW facilities, the new Information Technology Research Center was constructed with tremendous concern for the environment. The structure itself is a “green” building incorporating bare engineering and using only environmentally friendly material, wherever possible. Furthermore, each and every supplier and vendor involved in the construction and furnishing of the ITRC were subject to a sustainability evaluation to ensure environmental friendliness before their products were chosen.

Before the groundbreaking, consultants were brought in to make certain the building footprint would not interfere with adjacent wetlands and wildlife and careful steps were taken to remove only non-native or diseased plant life during the clearing stage of construction. Conservationists were also asked to install bird and bat houses for indigenous species in the bordering woodlands. To further offer a connection to the outdoors, BMW created several walking trails and a bluebird trail that all wind through the wooded area behind the building.

Staying true to BMW Group’s stance on conservation, the BMW ITRC was built to be a facility that co-exists with the environment, not one that disrupts it.

Rudy Mancke on the ITRC

Before construction on the ITRC building began, BMW Group asked renowned naturalist and correspondent of SCETV's NatureScene Rudy Mancke to walk the ITRC site. "Most people who build, build and then ask for help making it better. This is quite a different way of doing business and I like it,” noted Rudy regarding BMW's request for his expert advice before the building's footprint was set. Rudy continues, "I think it would be kind of a model for other people who are developing a site, to kind of do a basic look. Find what's most spectacular about it, most special and unique and be committed to protecting that."

Learn more about BMW Manufacturing’s dedication to the environment.