Summer of 2010 began the start of my career at Volkswagen.  At the time, I could have never anticipated just how much this company would mean to me a year and a half later. Based on my personal experience, Volkswagen of America (and it’s products) will always have a significant presence in my life.

It was an autumn day in late October 1987. The car was a bright red 1986 Audi 4000. It was my first drive, although I wasn’t exactly behind the wheel. I was only a few days old and strapped into a car seat in the back. It’s a shame I cannot recall the experience.

Fast-forward roughly sixteen years…

Once again, another autumn day in late October 2003. The car was a black 1996 Audi A4. This time I was in the driver’s seat with a freshly laminated driver’s license proudly tucked away in my wallet. My second “first drive” was slightly less smooth as I was still mastering the manual transmission, but it was just as monumental.

Growing up, I have always been passionate about cars and fascinated by the automobile industry. As I searched for a position to begin my career, I knew that in order to be satisfied with my job, I would need to work with automobiles. My desire to pursue a career at Volkswagen goes well beyond the performance, excitement, and beauty of the products. Instead, it is the impact that the products play in people’s everyday lives.

Continuing the tradition,
Brad

Our Chattanooga manufacturing plant has become the first and only automotive manufacturing plant in the world to receive Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) green building certification program. Platinum certification is the highest level of performance in the green building certification program.

LEED certification is an internationally-recognized green building certification system developed by the USGBC in March of 2000. LEED provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

Aspects of the plant that earned LEED recognition include:

• Superior insulation provided by six inches of mineral rock wool, resulting in 720,000 Kilowatts per year savings.
• Green power from the local hydroelectric dam
• Use of LED exterior lighting results in 68% less energy used, up to 262,500 kWh per year and a reduction in light pollution.
• Collected rainwater is reused to flush toilets and cool the welding machines
• Highly reflective white roof, which minimizes “heat island effect” by up to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Natural flowing creeks to capture heavy rains and restore a natural habitat
• Low-flow water fixtures and no-touch sensors throughout the plant reduce water usage by 30%.
• Plant was built on a brownfield property with no destruction of untouched nature.
• Protected 100 ft. wide creeks and wetlands were established to create natural habitats with low impact on natural habitats.

“Volkswagen Chattanooga’s LEED Platinum certification is the fulfillment of a promise that Volkswagen has made around the world and in this community that we will work in harmony with the environment,” said Frank Fischer, CEO and chairman of Volkswagen Chattanooga.  “Our commitment to building a LEED certified factory began in the planning and design stages.  I believe that this not only helped insure that we would achieve Platinum status, but was actually a very cost effective way to implement environmentally responsible building methods,” he said.

The Volkswagen Academy was also certified by USGBA as a Platinum LEED facility. The primary purpose of the Volkswagen Academy is to prepare new employees for work at the Volkswagen plant. In conjunction with Chattanooga State and Tennessee Tech, the Academy also offers an Industrial Technology degree and an apprenticeship program.

2011 marks the 12th year that Volkswagen Group of America has dedicated itself to supporting initiatives surrounding Americans with disabilities.  As part of this on-going commitment, we recently celebrated the accomplishments of 15 young artists with disabilities at a Capitol Hill reception co-hosted with VSA.   VSA is an international organization founded more than 35 years ago by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to provide arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and increase access to the arts for all.  This also marks the 10th year that our company has worked with this important program.

The award-winning artists, who are all younger than 25, live with a disability.  Their work was selected out of a field of more than 120 submissions through a highly competitive process that involved being juried by a panel of critical professional artists.  Volkswagen Group recognized their accomplishments in the form of significant financial support—$2,000, $10,000, even $20,000 to the grand prize winner —to apply toward their education, art supplies, and studio space.

VSA Executive Director Betty Siegel commended our company for the vision and support we have provided over the last 10 years by helping more than 100 talented artists and providing  more than $1 million to support young people with disabilities, including more than $400,000 in cash awards to artists.

The grand prize went to Dimelza Broche of Jacksonville, Fla. Her piece, Soul Reader, is an oil-on-canvas piece that we hope to have displayed at corporate headquarters in January, along with several of the other award-winning pieces.