Project Overview:

Frank Lloyd Wright designed Monona Terrace as a curvilinear gathering place linking Lake Monona to the Wisconsin State Capitol. It is a semi-autonomous operation of the City of Madison. Monona Terrace has been a leader in testing and adopting sustainable best practices that have been later applied to other City operations. The building has maintained LEED Best Practices continuously since 2007 when it became the first convention center awarded LEED Silver certification. Monona Terrace was awarded the higher LEED Gold level recertification in November, 2015.

The executive management asserts the importance of maintaining the building certification under the LEED Rating System as a key management and marketing tool to help maintain the competitive advantage Monona Terrace holds in its market.  Monona Terrace is also an active member of Travel Green Wisconsin which focuses on environmental sustainability in the travel and tourism industry.

Monona Terrace contracted with Leonardo Academy in July of 2012 to provide the guidance needed to meet the LEED-EB recertification at the Gold certification level. Leonardo Academy provided consulting services to update all plans, policies, audits, and best practices to meet the current rating system. The project had a twelve-month performance period from May 16, 2014 to May 15, 2015.

Key Project Information:

Program: U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
LEED Recertification Awarded: Gold Level, November 4, 2015; Exceeded minimum (60 points) to earn 71 points
Version: LEED for Existing Buildings: Operation &  Management (LEED-EB: O&M) v2009
Building Type: Convention and Civic Center
Building Size: 303,367 Square Feet
Previous LEED Certifications: LEED-EB v2.0 Silver 2007

Results:

Participating in LEED-EB and achieving LEED-EB Gold certification has produced many concrete benefits:

• Energy Ratings: An Energy EUI rating 27% below its peers
• Water Use: Water use reduction 46% below the LEED benchmark
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Tracked, recorded, and reported greenhouse gas emissions generated by the building and grounds through Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener® program
  Green Cleaning: Refined the building’s green cleaning program which serves as a model for other City of Madison cleaning operations
• Waste Streams: Diverts the building’s waste streams through a revised waste reduction and recycling program that includes all ongoing consumables, durable goods and equipment, and pre-consumer food waste
• Native Plantings: Maintains native plantings over a 22,646 square foot area of roof gardens

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