Heartland Headquarters Earns LEED Platinum Certification
First Newly Constructed Building in South Dakota to Receive Distinction

Heartland Consumers Power District has received word from the United States Green Building Council that their new headquarters building in Madison, S.D., has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification. It is the first newly-constructed building in South Dakota to achieve this highest green certification.

"As an energy company, we felt it was important to build a facility that demonstrated our commitment to energy efficiency and environmental preservation," said Heartland General Manager Mike McDowell. "Once the decision was made to build a new headquarters, aiming for LEED Platinum made the most sense and our investment has already paid dividends."

Heartland's facility was designed to be 46 percent more energy efficient than a building using standard construction and use a third less water. Features such as a geothermal heating and cooling system, extra thick insulation, high efficiency windows and motion sensors contribute to the savings. The building also uses recycled and reused materials including ceiling panels made of reused bleacher seats from a gymnasium in Nebraska. At least 70 percent of the building's energy is from renewable sources including roof-mounted solar panels and wind energy from the Wessington Springs Wind Energy Center.

"We are extremely proud of our new headquarters building," added McDowell. "We have seen the benefits of building green and hope others across the state follow suit when constructing new facilities. We encourage anyone contemplating LEED design to visit our headquarters."

LEED is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council and is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED recognizes performance in five key areas including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. A series of credits are available within the five areas and certification is obtained at Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. The Heartland building earned 54 credits. Fifty-two are required for Platinum certification.

Approximately 45 regional companies were involved in the construction of the building, designed by Koch Hazard Architects of Sioux Falls, S.D. Henry Carlson Company, also of Sioux Falls, served as construction manager and Jason Crain of Construction Management Professionals was hired as project manager to assist Heartland staff in managing the project from design to completion.

"Heartland has been a great partner in creating this green building," said Stacey McMahan, AIA, LEED AP, of Koch Hazard. "They came to us wanting to 'go green,' so we began the conversation about sustainability strategies, cost, process and carrying their goals through design and construction. Heartland has been dedicated and creative in their response to LEED requirements. The only way to create a great building is to work with a great client."

Heartland broke ground in the spring of 2009 and moved into their new facility in January 2010. Twelve employees occupy the 9,400 square foot facility. Heartland is a non-profit, public power utility providing wholesale electric power and energy to customers in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.

Information provided by Heartland Consumers Power District
July 2010