ROGERS — Pine trees and blue jeans are helping Nahoblz Construction Services be more green. The company uses both in a new, sustainable job-site trailer unveiled Friday at its Rogers office.

“For us it was just the right thing to do,” said Greg Fogle, Nabholz president of Midwest operations. “Sustainability is important to this company.”

Nabholz used several divisions within the company, from industrial to client services, to gut a job-site trailer and outfit it with features designed to increase its operating efficiency while lowering its environmental impact on a construction site. Fogle said the cost of operating the trailer should be less than $800 a year; a traditional trailer costs five times more.

The project was a year in the making, and the company plans to create two more sustainable trailers, said John Strack, Nabholz project superintendent.

Eight pine tree saplings are growing in flower boxes on each end of the trailer to reduce its carbon footprint, Strack said.

Once the construction project is completed, typically in a year’s time, the trees will either be planted on site or donated. New saplings will be planted in the flower boxes when the trailer moves to the next work site. Guttering that runs along the trailer’s roofline drains into the flowerbeds to water the trees.

Fogle called the project an emotional investment.

Recycled denim provides the trailer’s insulation and was installed by T&T Green of Fayetteville. Cam Shafer of T&T Green said the recycled, shredded denim is denser and allows less air flow than other types of insulation. It has a better smoke rating than fiberglass. It also is 40 to 45 percent more expensive than other insulation, making it cost prohibitive for many projects, he said. Some home builders use denim insulation because it does a better job of muffling sounds, Shafer said.

He said they looked at using foam insulation for the work-site trailer, but code requirements would have added too much weight for a trailer that needs to be mobile.

Much of the work on the trailer was completed by Nabholz employees in between construction sites or forced indoors because of inclement weather, Fogle said.

Nabholz hired Rocky Grove Sun Co., of Kingston to design and install eight solar panels on the trailer’s roof. Jimis Damet, owner of Rocky Grove Sun said it had to design curved racking to fit on the trailer’s roof. The panels can tilt to get the best access to the sun’s rays or lie flat on the roof. The panels will produce 2,000 watts per hour, and excess power feeds back into the grid.

Strack said having a sustainable work-site trailer could help projects working to gain green certification. LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — is a set of rating systems developed by the U.S. Green Building Council for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods.

There are 108 LEED certified buildings in the state; 37 are in Benton and Washington counties.

Strack said using the trailer could help a project get one point for innovation.

Not all Nabholz’ projects seek green certification, but Strack said all projects have sustainable aspects.

“The trailer will benefit any project,” he said. “Sustainability is not just important to us, but it’s also important to our clients.”