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Johnson Controls is improving its technical capacity by expanding its Battery Testing Center Under One Roof Longevity is a wonderful thing. But something that holds up over time and also made more productive and efficient is even better. That’s the thinking behind the planned expansion of the Battery Testing Center (BTC) at Johnson Controls’ Glendale, Wis., global campus—taking an existing facility and improving its technical capability and capacity to comfortably house personnel. The BTC was built in the 1960s to serve as a laboratory and testing facility for a variety of LED (light-emitting diodes) battery-related applications.

In the 1990s, the facility’s size nearly doubled to accommodate both engineering and research and development personnel—becoming, in effect, a one-stop shop, according to Michael G. Andrew, director of Government Affairs and External Communications for the hybrid group.
Last year, the BTC was augmented with the construction of an adjacent lithium-ion cell testing facility. But as LED-related activities began to migrate to facilities overseas, the timing was right to update the BTC to better fit its current focus of activity and accommodate employee growth.

Hybrid Experts Under One Roof
Slated to begin within the next several months, expansion of the BTC will center in part on the addition of a greater array of testing equipment. Just as important, the project will allow more employees to move into the facility to further the consolidation begun a number of years back.
“This really makes us unique in that the BTC will now be fully occupied by the hybrid facility,” Andrew says. “It gives us all the research and development and engineering—all the people and the physical horsepower essentially under one roof.”

More Efficient and Environmentally Sound
Consolidation isn’t the project’s sole advantage. As part of Johnson Controls’ expansion and remodel of its complete Glendale campus, the BTC will also undergo significant renovation. From a sheer technical standpoint, the building’s overall energy efficiency will be greatly improved, incorporating such features as geothermal heating and reuse of water whenever possible.
Nor have aesthetics been ignored. Planned in concert with campuswide renovations, the grounds surrounding the BTC will be redesigned to a more natural landscaping—much like the area looked when the building was constructed nearly 50 years ago. That makes economical, aesthetic and environmental sense.
“It’s really going to be very impressive,” Andrew says.