Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources
Northeast Regional Headquarters and Service Center
Village of Howard, WI
The Wisconsin DNR Northeast Regional Headquarters has been designated as a demonstration project, requiring “Silver level certification” from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. Only nine acres of the 16-acre lot can be built on, with the remainder remaining wooded swamp and wetlands.
Key Points: This new complex will consist of a three-story, 34,560 sq. ft. office building, a 16,000 sq. ft. storage facility for vehicles and boats, a small laboratory, a radio shop and parking facilities. Standards for design, construction layout, air quality and building footprint minimize the impact on the natural landscape. Design approaches involve placement of walls and windows in relation to the sun, providing 90 percent of workspaces access to daylight, the planting of native trees and plants, an air-to-air heat exchanger that retains heat from the exhaust air and uses it to heat incoming cold air, a high-efficiency air filtration system, and following all LEED certification guidelines.