Saint Gobain, the world’s largest manufacturer of building materials, cut the ribbon on a research and development lab in Northborough, the company’s largest R&D site worldwide.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick was on hand for the event, which offered a glimpse of the company’s energy-efficiency innovations. Patrick told the MetroWest Daily News the site offered a “glimmer of good news” in a tough economy.

The 60,000-square-foot building houses laboratories, offices and meeting space for 200 Saint Gobain scientists and engineers, officials said. Construction crews broke ground on the $15 million expansion just a year ago, according to the MetroWest newspaper.

Saint Gobain is headquartered in Paris and employs more than 300 people in Northborough. NECN.com offered a video clip here.

Saint-Gobain employs 340 people in Northborough and has had a strong central Massachusetts presence since 1990, when it acquired abrasives manufacturer Norton Co. of Worcester, according to the MetroWest newspaper.

Saint-Gobain has other locations at the former Norton site in the city of Worcester and in Taunton, among other Massachusetts sites.