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A Leader in Sustainable Buildings

LEED

Johnson Controls’ headquarters will be LEED certified platinum

These days, everyone seems to be going green. For many, that means taking cloth bags to the grocery store or installing energy-efficient appliances.
For Johnson Controls, it means far more than that. The company is now expanding and remodeling its Glendale, Wisc. global headquarters campus. The objective: to make the campus into the first LEED®-certified platinum facility in the state. LEED (an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance, environmentally sound buildings.

Green Features
Slated for completion in 2009, the $73 million project will include high-efficiency fixtures, significant increases in the use of natural light with more windows and skylights, and biofiltration of runoff collected through permeable paving on the parking lots. The runoff will be reused as “brown” water for flushing toilets, saving about 360,000 gallons of water a year.
Other sustainable features include:
  • Solar thermal on the roof of a planned two-story Power Solutions headquarters.
  • A ground-mounted, 400-kilovolt-ampere solar array on the grounds. Taking in 31,115 square feet, it’s slated to be the largest solar array in Wisconsin.
  • A laminated 14,355-square-foot solar array on the roof of the corporate headquarters.
  • Geothermal heating and cooling using circulating water from 272 wells, reducing operating costs 29 percent in the winter and 57 percent in the summer.
  • Parking structure stalls for “plug and drive” electric vehicles.
  • The property’s grounds will also feature a restored natural prairie and stream, trees and natural landscaping.

Sustainability in Action
The project’s green emphasis isn’t limited to its physical features. The overall project goal is for 20 percent participation by women- and minority-owned suppliers, reflecting the company’s highly successful supplier diversity program.
Other planned additions to the campus include a four-story parking structure and an amenities building housing a cafeteria, meeting rooms and fitness center.
The campus renewal and expansion is designed to accommodate expected increases in professional and support staff with a facility that will reflect the company’s commitment to the environment and sustainability.
“It’s designed to accommodate several years of business and employee growth,” says Dennis Kois, director of Employee Relations. “But it also represents a powerful statement about Johnson Controls’ commitment to sustainability—a showplace of work environment, energy conservation and facility management initiatives.”