Malouf completes move into more eco-friendly headquarters

A Cache County company’s long-awaited move to Nibley — part of an effort by the 13-year-old bedding distributor to become more sustainable — is now complete.

Malouf completed its relocation, which was first announced in 2014, on March 18. In doing so, company officials said, the business took a big step toward its goals of promoting a clean environment.

The new building provides solar-powered energy, electric car charging stations and fresh produce from the company garden.

The benefits weren’t just environmental. According to Jake Neeley, the marketing and communications director, the company transitioned to a solar-powered facility because “the cost for the company to become 'green' was significantly easier than it's ever been in the past.”

“There are a lot of kickbacks and subsidies for integrating that type of energy into a building,” Neeley said.

When installation was completed on the building’s 927 solar panels in November, Neeley reported that, on average, about 80 percent of the building would be powered by the sun, noting that the company was hoping to contribute to reduced pollution in the Cache Valley.

The building adds to company efforts to make its manufacturing practices more eco-friendly — like using a closed-loop process to produce some of its bed sheets.

According to Neeley, the process extracts botanical material from raw wood pulp, which is grown in renewable forests. This process is used to manufacture the company’s most popular sheets.

Foster Agblevor, a Utah State University professor of Utah science, technology and research, said the closed-loop process “is the complete elimination of waste when manufacturing products.”

Malouf received a Green Business Award for Corporate Excellence from the Utah Business magazine in October. According to Adva Biton, the assistant editor for the magazine, only 15 companies were chosen to receive the award in 2015.