Engineering

Since green building design, construction and operation can have a significant positive effect on energy and resource efficiency, waste and pollution generation, and the health and productivity of a building's occupants over the life of the building, the City of Madison strives to be a leader in green building practices.

Green building design, construction and operation have become increasingly widespread and a number of systems have been developed to serve as guides to green building practices.  At the national level, the U.S. Green Building Council, developer of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED©) Green Building Rating System and LEED© Reference Guide, has become a leader in promoting and developing green building.

LEED is a third party green building certification program and the globally recognized standard for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings and neighborhoods. By promoting a whole-building approach to sustainability, LEED recognizes performance in location and planning, sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, waste reduction, indoor environmental quality, innovative strategies and attention to priority regional issues.

Achieving LEED certification for building design and construction requires satisfying prerequisites and credits in the following categories:

• Integrative process
• Location and Transportation
• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy and Atmosphere
• Materials and Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Innovation
• Regional Priority

Levels of certification relate to the number of credits received and generally follow these thresholds:

• Certified: 40–49 points
• Silver: 50–59 points
• Gold: 60–79 points
• Platinum: 80+ points

The Facilities Section seeks LEED certification for City facilities as required by Common Council Resolution as adopted January 22, 2008:

• Any enclosed building constructed for and/or primarily funded by the City
• Any building constructed on City land
• Any major renovation or change in use of 5,000 gross square feet or more of a City-owned building that requires, building, plumbing, electrical and/or heating permits
• All covered projects shall be designed, contracted and built to achieve a minimum LEED© Silver certification and shall strive for the highest level of certification that project resources and conditions permit
• All covered projects shall be evaluated for on-site renewable energy systems in the design process

The City owns 13 facilities that have achieved LEED Certification and 3 facilities that are in the process of being certified as shown in the chart below.  
 

More information about LEED Certification can be found at the U.S. Green Building Council website.

Read the Common Council Resolution.