When the new $33 million Madison, Wis., fleet services building debuted in late 2022, it had already gleaned accolades for what it promised to do.

The 116,000-square-foot building is home to the city’s maintenance shops, administrative offices, a conference room, workout facilities and a multipurpose room that the community can use for activities such as voting. It meets globally recognized standards of sustainability by consuming less energy, using less water, having better indoor air quality, and is part of the city’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.

According to Madison’s fleet superintendent, Mahanth Joishy, the innovations in sustainability have placed the capital of Wisconsin in the world-class category. Planning and construction took nine years, according to Joishy, and included more than 1,000 city staff, consultants and contractors. Those years spanned several mayors and city councils. There were debates about funding and what the building would include and where it would be located.

Ultimately, Joishy said the project was funded from Madison’s capital budget, “which is where all new construction funds and new vehicle funds come from.”

The facility merges a fire maintenance facility, the communications radio shop and the fleet services facility. This combined-use facility reduces travel and response times between departments and improves operational efficiencies.

The fleet services division manages and administers the municipal vehicle and equipment fleet, including maintenance, vehicle inspection and repair and replacement of city vehicles. The new facility provides both light and heavy vehicle service and repair spaces for the city’s fleet of public safety vehicles; emergency vehicles; public works vehicles and equipment; fire apparatus and other service automobiles; and trucks and other equipment.

When the new building was completed in 2020, it was named the No. 3 Greenest Garage in North America in December 2022 by the Fleet Management Association. It was also recognized as the first-ever municipal auto garage in North America to be certified LEED NCv3.0 Gold by the U.S. Green Business Council.

LEED certification is awarded after determining the building meets the requirements of the U.S. Green Business Council’s standards for energy efficiency in six major categories: sustainable site; water efficiency; energy and atmosphere; materials and resources; indoor environment quality; and innovation and design process. There are 69 possible points to qualify for one of four levels of certification: certified; silver; gold; and, the highest, platinum.

According to city engineer James Whitney, architect for the city of Madison, “Green building design and sustainability design features include clerestory window daylighting, dimming daylighting controls, spray foam wall insulation, LED lighting systems, hydronic hot water floor heating, variable air volume heating and cooling system, solar hot water heating, an innovative passive heat solar wall and a rooftop solar electric photovoltaic panel system.”

The design process for this building, he added, used the Focus on Energy Design Assistance Program that helped the city and design team during the design phase with “evaluations of energy-saving strategies related to the selection of building envelope materials, lighting systems, and heating and cooling systems.”

To add to the accolades, Madison’s vehicle fleet was named the No. 19 Government Fleet among 38,000 eligible teams in North America.

The recognitions result from the city’s long-range climate plan that involves achieving net-zero operation of city buildings by 2030.

The need for the new consolidated fleet operation became apparent to city leaders as the population increased to more than a quarter million, making Madison the second-largest city in the state. In answer, the city considered how to make fleet operations more efficient than the several aging facilities that housed fleet headquarters, the radio shop and maintenance shops for various city fleet vehicles. The previous shop for repairing fire engines, for example, was not tall enough to accommodate modern fire equipment.

Consolidating fleet operations, Joishy said, saves the city’s fuel costs by not having to shuttle vehicles to different locations for service.

Besides the larger space in the new building, there is an abundance of windows to provide natural light to work areas and offices. In offices without windows, solar tubes through the roof help to augment the energy-efficient LED lighting. In work areas, such as the diesel repair shop, windows along the roofline let in natural light.

More than 800 solar panels help to take care of 60% of the building’s power needs, including hot water and heating in the winter. A radiant floor system keeps the heat closer to the floors in workshops, which increases the comfort level for mechanics.

A solar wall helps trap the sun’s heat to provide additional heat for the workspaces.

Another part of the city’s long-range energy plan is the introduction of energy-efficient vehicles to the city’s 1,400 vehicles. The city recently accepted its 100th electric vehicle, a Ford Mustang Mach E, bringing its EV inventory to the most in the state of Wisconsin. Madison’s EV fleet includes Chevrolet, Nissan, Tesla, Ford and Chrysler, as well as three Metro Transit buses, and Caterpillar and Toyota forklifts. There are hybrid police cruisers and ambulances with onboard batteries that mean the crew can work while parked without the internal combustion engine running. Madison was the first in North America to include a Pierce Volterra prototype EV fire engine in its inventory. Additionally, all the city’s diesel vehicles run on at least soy biodiesel fuel from soybeans.

Six solar-powered charging stations assist with keeping the electric vehicles powered up and on the road.

Joishy’s pride in the project is clear, calling the building a “legacy project.”

“On a projected timeline of up to 70 years, this building should serve the city till about 2090.”

But Madison is not counting on one building to do it all. Joishy said the city expects in the near future to open a new facility across town on the far west side for both fleet and public works functions “to better serve that side of town.”

When asked his favorite part of creating a world-class facility for Madison’s fleet, Joishy replied, “The environmental features, including over 800 solar panels, the solar heating wall and solar EV charging stations.”

He added, “We have plenty of EV charging for the fleet, for employee personal vehicles and the public on one property. It is also a great place to work for all employees, including air quality technology and climate control, giving even temperatures throughout the (entire) facility.”

In a podcast released at the time of the building’s opening, Jon Evans, city engineer and building design project manager, said the many energy-efficient features were as intentional as the ambiance of the building. “We wanted to reduce energy consumption, and we wanted an improved indoor environment to ensure it was a more pleasurable place to work.”

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