Campanelli Cos. of Braintree has begun work on a 62,000-square-foot expansion of Airxchange’s headquarters in Rockland that could accommodate up to 100 new jobs in the next three years.
The expansion will essentially triple the size of the building for the company, which designs and manufactures energy-efficient components for HVAC systems.
Designed by RKB Architects of Braintree, the work involves construction of a new entryway, upgrades to office areas and an addition for the manufacturing facilities to include more loading dock space.
When it’s done, the entire expanded facility will be about 95,000 square feet in size.
Airxchange also plans to exit a 15,000-square-foot leased warehouse in Hingham early next year and move those operations to the Rockland site.
The Rockland expansion is expected to be finished by spring 2011.
The company currently employs fewer than 100 people in Rockland, but it could add up to 100 more employees during the next two to three years after the expansion is complete.
Airxchange plans to spend about $4.5 million on its expansion project, which will be overseen by Campanelli, and $3 million on new equipment.
The company was recently awarded nearly $921,000 in tax credits from federal stimulus funds set aside for clean energy manufacturing projects. Airxchange plans to use those funds to help subsidize the purchase of new equipment for the expansion.
The company could also be eligible for a state tax credit of up to 5 percent on the equipment purchases. The company will also benefit from $132,000 in property tax savings on the expansion over 20 years that the town of Rockland awarded as a tax-increment financing incentive. In return, the town will get nearly $1.5 million in new tax revenue over that same period.
Airxchange sells its energy recovery wheels to major manufacturers of heating and cooling systems, such as Trane and Carrier, which in turn provide systems with the Airxchange wheels that are installed on the rooftops of commercial buildings.