Partnering with the Customer
How Johnson Controls Attained LEED Platinum Certification
Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) is nothing short of a trendsetter when it comes to green building and LEED initiatives. The company has continually challenged itself and surrounding communities to join it in its sustainability efforts, and Hunzinger Construction Company (Hunzinger) and the trades people on the JCI headquarters project in Milwaukee, accepted and met that challenge. With this tremendous cooperation, the Johnson Controls Corporate Headquarters project was recently awarded four Platinum Level Certifications and the largest Campus Certification in the world.
Seeing an opportunity to couple JCI's goals to increase their supply chain and work with minority contractors, the company partnered with Hunzinger during pre-construction meetings, monthly safety meetings, and throughout the entire project to ensure JCI achieved not only its goal of LEED Platinum — the highest certification of its kind — but also to grow its supply chain.
"JCI fully understands the benefits of partnering with all individuals on their projects," stated Dave Dell'Agnese, Project Manager, LEED AP with Hunzinger. "They are a hands-on group whose company goals mirror ours, and we feel the corporate headquarters project is a shining example of our hard work and partnership paying off."
Over the course of the project, Hunzinger trained 1,700 trades people in the LEED process during orientations, safety tool box talks and monthly safety meetings. Hunzinger wanted to ensure it left no stone unturned and realized early on that in order to meet JCI's goals, it needed to include the trades people every step of the way. This thought process is what has helped Hunzinger take LEED education to the next level, and ultimately helped JCI achieve a level of certification never done before.
"Our ability to achieve the highest LEED certification possible is a testament to everyone who played a role in the project," said Debrah VanderHeiden, AIA, LEED Green Associate, Director Headquarter Projects with JCI. "We saw it from the very beginning that our partners were as committed to achieving excellence as we were. You can't ask for a better commitment than that."
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