Search | Menu Energy-saving successes earn Dane County Climate Champions award
Madison College has been honored as a 2024 Dane County Climate Champion, acknowledging its commitment to reducing carbon emissions and advancing climate action initiatives.
This recognition comes from Dane County Executive Melissa Agard and the Office of Energy and Climate Change (OECC), which celebrated Madison College and 31 local entities for their exemplary leadership in sustainability.
The award highlights the impressive energy performance of three of Madison College's key facilities: the Early Learning Campus, the Protective Services Building, and the Health Sciences Building. These buildings exhibit low energy consumption and showcase a robust integration of innovative technologies to minimize environmental impact.
National clean energy education leader
Key features include energy-efficient building materials and construction practices, advanced energy management and building automation systems, and installing state-of-the-art HVAC systems with energy recovery ventilation. These buildings use ground-source geothermal heating and cooling, along with on-site solar electric generation and energy storage technologies.
"We are proud to acknowledge our successes and remain dedicated to advancing the energy efficiency of our facilities," said Cody White, Budget Director (former Capital Planning & Sustainability Manager at Madison College). “This award is a testament to the commitment of our amazing Facilities team, especially Wes Marquardt, Fred Brechlin, Lynn Dahlgren and Dr. Ken Walz. The investments we’ve made in this infrastructure reduce our overall energy use and help offset costs, allowing us to further invest in our students, faculty, and staff.”
Madison College Truax Campus boasts a solar system that generates 100% of the main building’s energy needs during sunny periods, utilizing over 5,700 solar panels across 125,000 square feet of rooftop space. Additionally, a 73 kW solar array was installed at the Madison College Fitness Center in 2022, enhancing the College’s renewable energy footprint. The Goodman South campus also contributes to this success with a solar system featuring 378 panels that supply 25% of its annual electricity consumption, equivalent to the energy use of 20 homes.
Sharing energy management expertise
"Madison College is a national leader in clean energy education,” said instructor Ken Walz. “By championing advanced energy technology for our buildings, the college is shrinking our environmental footprint while providing real-world examples for our students to study and learn from.”
Aligned with the Dane County Climate Action Plan, which aims to reduce countywide emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Madison College’s initiatives are crucial in the fight against climate change.
The college will install solar PV and battery storage at the Protective Services Building in spring 2025 and is working on a feasibility study for solar PV installation in the Health Sciences Building.
Madison College will share its energy management expertise in its new role as a Department of Energy Industrial Energy Training and Assessment Center, to assist small and mid-sized businesses in Wisconsin by reducing energy costs and implementing new technologies.
