General Heating and Air Conditioning originated as a heating service company for Madison in the early 1960's. Local fire fighters organized by Ralph Triggs fixed oil furnaces during their spare time between shifts. The advent of home air conditioning and an increase in service work created several problems for the small company. A business partner was brought in for full time management, the company was incorporated and residential air conditioning installation and service was added to their services. The business partner, Charlie Kruse, became President of the company in 1963, adding new construction to the list of services, buying a sheet metal shop in 1971, and moving the company to a small metal building on Perry Street.

Thirty years later, in 1993 when Charlie retired, significant changes had occurred in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning industry. General had become a significant part of the construction industry in Madison and maintained its service origins. Ashok (Willie) Chopra, a project manager for General, became the new president. Willie and Charlie had been working closely with a local electrical and piping company. In 1994, Hooper Corporation bought General as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Since 1994, General has grown and expanded its services. The shop and office on Perry Street has become a mini campus with a 18,000 square foot fabrication facility, contract department warehouse, service and parts warehouse, service department offices, fleet maintenance shop and a new office headquarters (more on that later). General has an average of 120 employees, both field and office, 76 fleet vehicles, and one of the largest service departments with 15 service technicians. In addition to our current location we share a Training and warehouse/fabrication facility with Hooper Corporation on the East side of Madison.

In 2008 General went through another period of change. As a growing design build mechanical contractor in Madison, General was outgrowing its current office space. Decisions were made to design and construct a new office headquarters on our campus. The building was completed and occupied in the fall of 2009, just ahead of Willie's retirement at the end of the year. General's new president, Dave Orr, started with the company in 1982 and took part in the many changes occurring with the company and the industry. Current challenges Dave faces as president are the ever changing sustainability issues, indoor air quality standards, codes and regulations, and new developing technologies in design, engineering, installation and service.

All of these challenges and many more were involved in the when the Company served a unique role as owner, mechanical engineer/designer, mechanical contractor, commissioning agent, occupant and facilities manager for their new headquarters building. The goals set for the 34,000 square foot office building were straight forward: build a building that meets our current and future office needs, re-invests in our current location and community, and demonstrates our company's services and capabilities.

One of the tools General used to achieve this goal is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program run by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is a voluntary building certification that encourages an environmentally responsible and energy efficient building. USGBC uses many of the ASHRAE standards, including 62.1 and 90.1 among others to support the program. General made it their goal to get LEED certification for their new office building.

LEED has a total of 69 credits. According to Carol Mori from General, the company's minimum design criteria for the building put them in the LEED Silver category but in reach of Gold, pushing the building to a higher standard. They learned the construction costs on a LEED building are similar to a non certified office building but there are additional costs in the engineering and administration side of applying for LEED. They also applied for and received Focus on Energy financial incentives.

General incorporated many green and energy savings features into the site and building. The building site originally housed a shop/storage building, paving was recycled and reduced, and indoor environmental quality was a key consideration. Other design features include low flow faucets and fixtures, native plants, a storm water retention pond, efficient light fixtures and efficient HVAC equipment.

The LEED application was reviewed by the USGBC and has been approved to receive the LEED Gold certification.

Now that the building is operational, they are using the opportunity to track their utility usage against the energy model used to estimate the energy savings and there is consideration of applying for Energy Star, as well. They have taken this opportunity to learn and apply it to what they do on a daily basis.

Part of the LEED program is to provide education supporting LEED and energy efficiency. Please contact the folks at General for a building tour sharing this local accomplishment back to the engineering community.