Published in Midwest Flyer – Oct/Nov 2016
MADISON, WIS. – Mead & Hunt has received national recognition from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), and a Best of State Finalist Engineering Excellence Award from ACEC Wisconsin for its work on the Dane County Regional Airport snow removal equipment (SRE) facility in Madison, Wis. The new 58,800-square-foot structure better centralizes operations for tandem snowplows. The facility has earned LEED Gold certification due to several sustainable design features outperforming expectations.
Mead & Hunt designed the facility’s initial phase to meet the current budget, while also allowing for a future expansion of 45,000 square feet to the north. Despite poor soil conditions and tight site constraints, the building is solid with 1,000 helical pilings supporting the structure and the floor slab. Precast sandwich panels also provide insulation and structural support for the roof.
The roof of this building houses the state’s largest municipal solar array, which provides approximately half of its energy. This led to the unique opportunity for Mead & Hunt to assist the FAA in establishing standards of design. Realizing the potential for the panels to reflect sunlight that would interfere with crew sight lines, the FAA required studies for safety. The FAA then used the study results from this project to develop the standards of design.
