Two LEED certified projects built by Miron Construction Co., Inc. honored with WGBA SE2 Leadership Awards
Neenah, Wis. – Two LEED certified projects built by Miron Construction Co., Inc. were recently awarded 2012 Wisconsin Sustainability and Energy Efficiency (SE2) Leadership Awards, as presented by the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (WGBA).
This awards program recognizes leadership in energy efficient and sustainable design, construction and operation of Wisconsin commercial buildings and related systems. The goal of the program is to encourage greater collaboration among owners, designers, builders and operators by highlighting the value of projects that enhance the built environment.
The Silver LEED certified Veolia Hickory Meadows Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project and the Gold LEED certified Shawano School District Hillcrest Primary School (EC-2) were honored with Special Citation awards. These projects were recognized at an awards ceremony held at UW-Milwaukee on Sept. 28 during the annual WGBA SE2 Fall Conference.
“We are honored to have been the LEED project administrator and construction manager not on one, but two projects that received SE2 Awards,” said Theresa Lehman, Miron’s director of sustainable services. “We’re extremely proud of the commitment our organization has made to ‘building green’ in collaboration with our design-build partners and our clients. The Hillcrest Primary School is an awesome example of a high-performance school that provides a healthy environment for the students and staff, minimizes operational and maintenance costs and is also utilized as a teaching tool to educate future generations about sustainability. The Veolia Hickory Meadows Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project is as an excellent example demonstrating how ‘waste’ can be converted into renewable energy, minimizing environmental impacts.”
Additional information on the selected projects:
Veolia Hickory Meadows Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project:
This Silver LEED certified project is located in Hilbert, Wis., and is the first LFGTE developed by Veolia Energy North America. The project involved the construction of a building and installation of equipment that converts methane gas generated by the landfill into energy. The 4.8-megawatt (MW) electrical generation facility has the capacity to generate 42,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year, enough to power 2,800 homes. The facility includes three landfill reciprocating engine generator sets with a capacity of 1.6 MW each, fueled exclusively by the landfill gas. Landfill gas, which is normally burned off, is captured and sent via the landfill’s existing gas collection system to the LFGTE facility, where it is transformed into electricity and then sold to Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), the primary electricity and gas provider for northeastern Wisconsin residents. WPS purchases all of the power generated by the plant, along with the Renewable Energy Credits associated with the energy output.
The judges noted, “Harvesting methane is a critically important contribution to sustainability. The greenhouse effect of methane is 20 times that of carbon dioxide per unit volume, so its recovery alone is extremely beneficial. Using the methane to create energy makes this project a double-winner. This project is an example of a sensible, realistic, win-win project that ought to be more common. From a sustainable standpoint, there is almost nothing better that can be done. This project gets special thanks from the judges for reminding us how projects that lack architectural glamour can still be the most important.”
Veolia Hickory Meadows Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project – Right click to download
Shawano School District New Hillcrest Primary School (EC-2):
This 130,000-square-foot primary school is the first public primary school in the nation to receive Gold LEED certification under the LEED for Schools rating system. The school incorporates numerous sustainable features including a geothermal heating and cooling system, multiple day lighting elements, water efficient landscaping, low-flow toilets and sinks, shared use of the facility with the community and materials that have a high recycle content, are low-emitting and locally sourced. The school is used as a teaching tool for the entire district as well as the local technical colleges.
“By now, the jury has come to expect a number of very competent school projects, and this is one of them. The first LEED for Schools Gold certified (public primary school) project, this school is a very cost effective, energy efficient project employing every cost effective technology including ground source heat pumps, triple glazing, day lighting and a number of other LEED-point (requirement) provisions. The jury noted that this design minimized the window wall ratio, which in most of Wisconsin is usually beneficial, but at the same time seems to provide daylight and views to a lot of the spaces. The excavation and piping are worth it as the natural climate benefits are achieved in most of the state,” commented the judges.
Shawano School District New Hillcrest Primary School (EC-2) – Right click to download
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WGBA is a non-profit 501(c)3 educational affiliate organization of the US Green Building Council (USGBC), whose mission is to shape the future by facilitating and promoting ecologically sustainable practices within Wisconsin’s built environment. The vision of the WGBA is to create an existing and future built environment that is socially, economically and environmentally regenerative. For more information, please visit www.wgba.org.
Miron Construction Co., Inc., named 2012 Contractor of the Year by ENR Midwest, is a forward-thinking, fast-growing private company completing work throughout the nation. Miron is currently listed 115th among all general contractors in the United States and among the top 10 construction companies serving the Midwest by Engineering News Record(based on revenue figures for 2011). Miron provides innovative pre-construction, construction management, design-build and general construction services and is headquartered in Neenah, Wis., with regional offices in Madison, Wausau and Milwaukee, Wis., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Negaunee, Mich. and Virginia, Minn. Miron is also the Official Provider of Construction Services for the Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field. For more information, please visit miron-construction.com.
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