The Sheward Partnership is pleased to announce that Cuisine Solutions received LEED Certification for their facility in San Antonio, Texas. TSP was commissioned by Cambridge Development Group to serve as the sustainability consultant for the new 311,000 square foot, state of the art sous vide cooking facility in the Brooks neighborhood of San Antonio, within the footprint of the former Brooks Air Force Base. This facility, the largest sous vide plant in the US, achieved LEED certification for implementing multiple environmentally friendly solutions including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. The building is situated on a remediated and previously developed site with numerous business and public transit options within walking distance. The bulk of the employee parking area and bicycle storage spaces are shaded and sheltered by a canopy of solar panels, while 10 parking spaces have been outfitted with charging capabilities for electric vehicles.
Cuisine Solutions is very cognizant of the ongoing water issues in the area surrounding the facility and made every effort to be a good steward of potable water. This included using water supplied 100% by the city of San Antonio’s SAWS ‘recycled water’ program for all exterior landscaping needs while reducing interior water usage 30% below the equivalent baseline. Multiple water systems within the building in the building have been separately metered, allowing staff to monitor water usage.
Cuisine Solutions, Stellar (the project’s design build partner) and TSP worked together to perform an in depth analysis of select building materials to ensure products with desirable environmental, social and economical life-cycle impacts were selected. Careful consideration was also taken to select materials that did not contain concentrations of chemicals known to damage human health and air quality. An Indoor Air Quality Management Plan was implemented during construction and indoor air quality testing was performed prior to occupancy to prefer that the new building would be healthy for employees and have no effect on the products processed at the facility.
Cuisine Solutions’ commitment to sustainability and implementation of multiple ingenious environmentally friendly strategies is a huge contribution not only to the local community, but the larger sustainability movement being seen throughout industrial manufacturing.
Project Awards
2021 Food Engineering Magazine, Sustainable Plant of the Year
2021 ENR Excellence in Sustainability Award
2021 ENR Best Manufacturing Award
Project Team
Owner: Cuisine Solutions
Developer: Cambridge Development Group, LLC
Construction, Architecture, MEP: Stellar Group, Inc.
Civil Engineer: Pape-Dawson Engineers
Landscape Architect: MP Studio Landscape Architecture
Sustainability Consultant: The Sheward Partnership, LLC
