Among the most crucial elements of maintaining a large office building in Houston is regulating the building’s temperature and air quality. Today’s modern offices strive to maximize efficiency while minimizing energy consumption and operational costs. One of the leading companies servicing many such buildings, Hunton Group, is located right here in Westchase District.
Sizeable and Centered
Since 1981, Hunton Group has provided Trane-brand HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) equipment, service, control systems and solutions for building owners throughout Texas. It is the largest independent distributer of commercial, industrial and residential HVAC systems in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, as well as being the largest distributor of Trane product worldwide.
In 1990, Houston Trane constructed its 54,000 square-foot headquarters at 10555 Westpark Drive, later changing its name to Hunton Group in 2004. “When we built our headquarters here, we predicted that Westchase District was going to be the new center of Houston,” said R.O. Hunton, chairman and CEO. “We were right. It’s a great location that allows our associates to get in and out easily to reach our customers.”
The company has five divisions that cover residential, commercial, rental, parts and services and building controls. On the commercial side, the company’s portfolio includes such Westchase District offices as CityWest Place, the Hilton Houston Westchase, NOV Tower and Westchase Park 1 & 2, which is LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
“When people think of energy services companies, they usually think of oil and gas,” said Richard Hunton, president, COO and son of R.O. Hunton. “But we’re a building energy services company. About 60 percent of energy consumption comes from residential and commercial buildings. We’re here to collaborate on solutions so that energy doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.”
Making Buildings Smarter
Cornering the Market: The Hunton Group’s Convergentz building controls subsidiary is located at the corner of Westpark and Hunton Drives.
One way Hunton Group is saving customers money is through its Convergentz subsidiary which uses hardware and software to control not only HVAC systems but to integrate with lighting, fire alarms, energy metering, chiller plant optimization and tenant override management. “We take multiple building systems and integrate them so that building managers see a consistent dashboard regardless of the underlying hardware,” said Nathan Hopkins, senior project engineer. “This helps our clients analyze any energy and system inefficiencies, prevent operational downtime and maintain peak performance of their buildings.”
“Hunton has installed two 820-ton Trane chillers for us at NOV Tower, our new 24-story, 440,000-square foot development,” said Bahman Mozafari, vice president with Woodbranch Management, Inc. “In addition, through them, we are in the process of installing a state-of-the-art control system for both NOV Tower and Millennium Tower which will control all HVAC equipment with the latest technology.”
Voted by the Houston Chronicle as one of 2015’s top Houston workplaces, Richard Hunton said the company’s culture emphasizes employee wellness, public recognition of its team members and morale-building events like snow cone parties and crazy hat days. “Even though we’ve grown to more than 400 employees nationwide, we’re still a family business and that includes everyone from our dealers and sales team to our service technicians and office staff,” he said. “Customers work with people, not companies and we make sure hard work never goes unnoticed.”
Hunton Group
10555 Westpark Drive
713-266-3900
huntongroup.com
