‘It really does make business sense’: Lake Zurich firm earns accolade for green practices
A roof strong enough to hold grazing goats didn’t make the cut of sustainable measures being considered by a Lake Zurich business, but the green projects it pursued earned kudos from the village.
Alpha Tekniko, which designs and makes products for the health care industry, is the 2024 winner of Lake Zurich’s Green Business Award for integrating eco-friendly practices in daily operations and driving positive change in the environment.
“One of the things we wanted to do was take what we learned and try to live up to our name, Alpha Tekniko, which basically means leader in technology in Greek,” company President Ted Lazakis said this week after accepting the award at a village board meeting.
The company, opened in Lake Zurich in 2008, is a contract manufacturer specializing in designing advanced support surfaces for durable medical equipment such as hospital beds, operating tables and wheelchairs.
Among many initiatives cited by the village is Alpha Tekniko building a fully solar-powered, 78,000-square-foot headquarters at 1400 Rose Road in the Lake Zurich industrial park. Energy generated by a 444 solar panel array is enough to power 30 homes for a year.
High-efficiency rooftop HVAC units, increasing insulating effectiveness with high-resistance concrete panels, special emissions towers for air purification, motion-sensitive lighting and paint free of volatile organic compounds are among other sustainable elements incorporated in the building.
Lazakis said the company considered what it could do differently than competitors in terms of sustainability. He said a green roof to accommodate grazing goats was among the ideas, but it was dropped after being estimated to cost $1 million.
“That was a bridge too far,” he said. “But we pretty much did everything else on our wish list.”
Among them were building designs that helped save more than two acres of trees on Rose Road and the installation of no-mow areas using a mix of native grasses and plants on three sides of the building.
Other green initiatives incorporated by Alpha Tekniko include preparing parking areas with electrical connections for the eventual installation of EV charging stations and eliminating the use of Styrofoam for packaging, according the village.
“This thriving Lake Zurich company is a prime example of thinking about future generations, not just profit and being an industry leader in environmental protection,” village officials said.
Lazakis said the green measures reduced operating costs but also had an effect on hiring, particularly younger people who appreciated the commitment.
“It has really helped us bring some people on board that we might not have been able to get otherwise,” he said. “It may be a little more expensive but it really does make business sense to do this.”
Lazakis said traditional construction decisions for industrial buildings are dominated by finding ways to reduce costs, with the majority built by investors focused on maximizing profits rather than long-term operating costs, occupant health or community impact.
“Being a health care supplier we understand the impact of both higher operating costs and our responsibility for the health of our employees,” he said.
The award recognizing environmentally conscious businesses in the community was established earlier this year.