Ahern Receives Build Wisconsin Award for Loparex Project

Ahern recently received a Build Wisconsin Award from the Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin (AGC). The company won in the specialty contractor category for the mechanical work perfomed on the Loparex plant located in Hammond, WI. Loparex is a global manufacturer of silicone release liners used in a variety of pressure sensitive adhesive applications. The company was one of the first to manufacture silicone-coated paper. They focus on many business areas such as medical, graphic arts, labels, and industrial.

Ahern designed and installed a new energy efficient air cooled Trane Stealth chiller, the first in Wisconsin, which was able to deliver more cooling capacity. In addition, Ahern also designed and installed a building automation system to control the switch over between the chiller and dry coolers based on outdoor air temperature to achieve peak effeciency. The system can even be accessed remotely from a computer, iPad or smartphone.

Other energy-savings solutions include Ahern replacing seven existing chilled water pumps with new high efficiency chilled water pumps to reduce the owner's energy cost and by installing 8" High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) piping underground, Ahern was able to reduce the customers project cost. Greg Weyer, Engineering Manager at Loparex, had this to say about Ahern, "Ahern met all of my expectations while being professional, organized, and very detailed. They were a large part of the design layout and I can honestly say I wouldn't change one thing. Decreased energy usage, what more can you ask for?"