POWERGRAMS

When the new tower opened, the project team passed the "keys" to Horne and his Corporate Facilities staff. "It was the most stressful time of my career," Horne said. "We had to write new job descriptions and procedural manuals, develop training and get up to speed on all the new equipment. I hired about 60 employees before the building opened." Danny McDaniel, Corporate Facilities coordinator, said it was a new ballgame because all the equipment was automated. McDaniel and other facility control operators shadowed contractors installing the heating and cooling, fire alarms and other equipment to learn how to operate the systems. "There was a huge learning curve because of the technology change from a manual operation to a totally computer-automated system," he said. "I was on the leading edge of the changes in technology in our industry." Alabama Power Corporate Headquarters garnered national recognition for its innovative design and features. Among the honors were the 1986 Building of the Year Award from the Building Owners and Managers Association, the Grand Award for Engineering Achievement in 1985 from Specifying Engineer magazine and the Energy Innovation Award in 1984 from the U.S. Department of Energy. Time has not stood still for Corporate Headquarters the past 30 years. A central utility system with modern centrifugal chillers now cools the building, replacing the outdated thermal storage system. A retail area, including a hair salon, coffee and gift shops and shoe-repair business, has been added to the atrium for the convenience of employees and visitors. Other changes included renovating the employee park with the addition of a walking track and flowers and shrubs indigenous to Alabama, installing a rainwater and well-water capture system, modernizing and retrofitting the elevators, and opening a fitness area for employees. Although it was a busy time for the team, Harrell said the work 30 years ago was worth the effort. "Nine years of our lives were embedded in that project, but I enjoyed doing it," Harrell said. "We were all the time going somewhere. I might be in the air flying to Germany on Monday and by Friday I'd be in New York. All we knew how to do was work." 13 CORPORATE HQ FACTS • Opened in April 1986 after nine years of planning and construction. • Tower has 900,000 square feet of office space. • Created Alabama's largest commercial office building. • Parking deck has 1,568 spaces. • Thermal storage system was world's largest at the time. • Project won national honors for design, energy efficiency and innovation. • Workers continued renovations to older buildings until 1989. The expansion was spotlighted in national magazines.

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