Environmental Leader

Johnson Controls is undertaking a $45 million expansion and upgrade of its international headquarters that it says will be a prototype for sustainable environmental design, Journal Sentinel reports (via Triple Pundit). Two buildings, constructed in the 1970s, will be gutted and made into a showcase for the company’s energy-efficient, environmentally friendly retrofitting business.

Energy conservation measures such as green roofs, wind turbines, solar panels and a geothermal field are planned.

Other environmental improvements include a 50,000-gallon cistern that will collect rainwater for toilet flushing in the new buildings. Overflow from the cistern would be directed to a rain garden.

The large parking lot on the southeast corner of the property will be replaced with porous pavers and swales that will allow rainwater to be absorbed and naturally cleanse the runoff. The landscaping for the property will restore most of the open area to a prairie, using all native plants.

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