Dane County Recognizes 73 New Climate Champions
September 09, 2026
execmedia@danecounty.gov, 608-800-1127
County Executive, County Executive
Dane County Recognizes 73 New Climate Champions Entities Across Dane County Lead by Example
Dane County Executive Melissa Agard and the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change (OECC) recognized 73 local entities as 2026 Dane County Climate Champions, celebrating their leadership on climate action. OECC developed the Climate Champions program in 2020 to recognize local entities that are leading on climate action.
“Meeting the ambitious goals set in the Dane County Climate Action Plan requires leadership from everyone. That’s why we are so excited to recognize this impressive class of new Climate Champions, representing so many different sectors,” said Agard. The Dane County Climate Action Plan set goals to cut countywide emissions in half by 2030 and to achieve countywide carbon neutrality by 2050.
In 2026 the Office of Energy & Climate Change Climate Champions program recognized achievements across twelve categories, including:
• Building Energy Use - recognizing very energy-efficient buildings
• Building Design - recognizing newly built and in-process facilities that are projected to be very energy efficient
• Catalysts – recognizing entities that help others take climate actions
• Employee Commuting – recognizing entities that encourage their workforce to commute via bike, foot, transit, or telecommuting
• Fleet Operations – recognizing clean fuel fleets
• Food Waste – recognizing entities preventing food waste or mitigating its impacts
• GHG Emissions - for entities that have measured and reduced their emissions footprint
• Renewable Energy – recognizing entities that offsetting their facility energy use with renewables
• Sustainable Land Use Practices - recognizing strong land use practices
• Waste Diversion Practices - recognizing strong waste diversion practices
• Water Saving Practices - recognizing practices to reduce water consumption
• Other – recognizing innovative climate actions that don’t fit into other categories
This year, OECC is presenting 73 Climate Champions awards, which is a record level of participation.
To date OECC has recognized more than 300 Climate Champions across Dane County.
“It’s amazing to see so many new Climate Champions in 2026. This high participation reflects local values. Regardless of the rhetoric elsewhere, the communities, businesses and nonprofits in Dane County remain committed to climate action because climate action reduces operating costs, inspires both employees and customers and contributes to community well-being. We are lucky to have so many smart and innovative leaders here in Dane County,” says Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change Director Kathy Kuntz.
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2026 Climate Champions (in alphabetical order)
• Abbott Cancer Diagnostics -- Abbot Cancer Diagnostics achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 4 Star) for their work applying food waste to the land, offering food waste educational resources, composting, upcycling and redistributing potential food waste to people.
• ABC Supply Co., Inc. -- ABC Supply Co, Inc. achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 3 Star) for the rooftop solar on their facility which generates nearly all of the electricity used by the facility. Arch Solar completed this solar installation.
• Adaptive Restoration LLC -- Adaptive Restoration achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Fleet, 2 Star) for having half of their fleet be electric vehicles (EVs).
• Bethel Lutheran Church -- Bethel Lutheran Church achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 2 Star) in recognition of their efforts to get more than 60% of their electricity from renewable energy sources. Bethel participates in a community solar project.
• CBRE Agent for Owner -- CBRE achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for the office building at 4703 Madison Yards Way. The facility earned an ENERGY STAR score of 75, which means it is in the top quartile of energy efficient buildings.
• City of Fitchburg received two awards this year:
o The City of Fitchburg achieved 2026 Climate Champion (Building Design, 2 Star) status for the design of the City's new Police Services Facility, which will feature rooftop solar, geothermal heating and cooling, and a variety of energy efficiency measures. The City is working with FGM Architects on the design.
o The City of Fitchburg achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 3 Star) for its Public Works Maintenance Garage. The garage gets all of its electricity from renewable sources leveraging a combination of rooftop solar and utility supplied solar. Arch Electric and Convergence Energy installed the rooftop solar.
• City of Madison received five awards this year:
o The City of Madison is recognized as a 2026 Catalyst Climate Champion for their partnership agreement with UW-Madison, which enables UW Madison vehicles to fuel up using renewable diesel at City of Madison fleet facilities. This is incentivizing increased use of renewable fuel.
o The City of Madison received 2026 Climate Champion recognition (Building Design, 3 Star) for the Bartillon Men's Shelter. Built to LEED Gold standards, the mass timber facility features a geothermal heating and cooling system. The facility team includes LEED® Project Admin: HabLab LLC. Construction Manager: Miron Construction Co., Inc. Architect: Dimension IV Madison Design Group. Trauma Informed Design Consultant: Shopworks Architecture. Civil Engineer/Landscape: Snyder Associates. MEP/FP Engineers: IBC Engineering. Structural Engineer: Oneida Total Integrated Enterprises. Dane County co-funded this project.
o The City of Madison received 2026 Climate Champion recognition (Building Design, 2 Star) for the Imagination Center at Reindahl Park. The all-electric facility features rooftop solar as well as geothermal heating and cooling. The facility was designed to save mature trees on the 91-acre park property. Design and construction partners were Design: JLA Architects. Construction: Corporate Contractors Inc. (CCI).
o The City of Madison Community Development Authority achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Building Design, 3 Star) for Luna, a new construction 164-unit multifamily project that will serve low-income residents taking place at the Triangle in downtown Madison. The facility is being built to Enterprise Green Communities standards and will feature the largest residential geothermal system in the region. The City partnered with Developer and team lead - New Year Investments. Architecture and Master Planning - Potter Lawson. Development Plan Engagement and Equity - EQT by Design. Construction - Krupp General Contractors. Landscape Design - Saiki Design. Civil Engineering Consultant - Vierbicher. Mechanical Engineering Consultant - Design Engineers. Sustainability Consultant - Slipstream.
o The City of Madison achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Other) for their efforts in sustainable purchasing practices. The City of Madison issued updated and new guidance that directs City employees to choose electric vehicles, certified green cleaning products, sustainable building materials, and to leave single-use plastics behind. By changing how local government shops, the City of Madison is looking to help grow the local market for sustainable products.
o City of Madison, Sustain Dane, and Neighborhood Food Solutions -- The City of Madison, Sustain Dane, and Neighborhood Food Solutions achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 2 Star) for the food scraps collection program, which has expanded to four farmers markets and successfully achieved their 40,000-pound compost collection goal for 2025. The aim of the ongoing program is to make food scrap collection more accessible to community members in Madison. The program includes education to the broader community so that people can learn how to properly compost with the goal of minimizing contamination for future programs.
• City of Sun Prairie, Green Box Compost, and Sustain Dane -- The City of Sun Prairie and Green Box Compost achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 4 Star) for diverting food waste through its RESCU food waste compost pilot. This USDA grant-funded project in partnership with Green Box Compost and Sustain Dane offered a discounted curbside compost service to 115 households and established school lunchroom composting and share tables to redistribute uneaten food at 3 Sun Prairie schools. Combined, these efforts diverted 28,882 lbs. of food waste from the landfill in 2025, produced 21 cubic yards of compost, and engaged over 3,000 people with composting resources and education.
• Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin -- Community Action Coalition of South Central Wisconsin achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 4 Star) on behalf of the Foodshed Partnership for their work composting, redistributing potential food waste to people, and upcycling food for human consumption.
• Dane County Land & Water Resources received two awards this year:
o Dane County Parks achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 3 Star) for the renewable power at William G. Lunney Lake Farm County Park. The park's on-site solar supplies about 40% of the park's electricity and the remainder comes from the County's renewable electricity partnerships with utilities.
o Dane County Parks achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 3 Star) for the renewable power at Lussier Family Heritage Center adjacent to William G. Lunney Lake Farm County Park. The Center's on-site solar supplies about 70% of the park's electricity and the remainder comes from the County's renewable electricity partnerships with utilities.
o Everlight Solar -- Everlight Solar achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Fleet, 1 star) for 1/3 of vehicles being electric (EVs).
• The Gialamas Company, Inc. received four awards this year
o The Gialamas Company achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for their office building at 8030 Excelsior Drive. The facility earned an Energy Star score of 82, which means the building is more efficient than 80% of comparable office buildings.
o The Gialamas Company achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for their office building at 8040 Excelsior Drive. The facility earned an Energy Star score of 75, which means it's in the top quartile of efficient office buildings.
o The Gialamas Company achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 3 Star) for their office building at 1255 Fourier Drive. The facility earned an Energy Star score of 95, which means it's in the top five percent of efficient office buildings.
o The Gialamas Company achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for their office building at 1241 John Q Hammonds Drive. The facility earned an Energy Star score of 75, which means it's in the top quartile of efficient office buildings.
• Historic Cooksville Trust -- Historic Cooksville Trust (HCT) achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Sustainable Land Use, 3 Star) for their prairie restoration work on seven acres of land. The donated prairie has an endowment to maintain it in perpetuity with controlled burns, weeding, and planting with forbs or grasses. The trust hosts an annual seed collecting workshop open to the public at no charge. HCT also hosted a "So You Want to Have a Prairie" workshop earlier this year.
• Hoffman Manufacturing Corp -- Hoffman Manufacturing Corporation achieved 2026 Climate Champions status (Renewable Energy, 3 Star) in recognition of getting all of their electricity from renewable sources. Hoffman uses a combination of rooftop solar and utility-supplied renewable electricity. Arch Solar installed the rooftop solar. Hoffman's facility is also unique in that its entire service fleet is electrified, and part of their operations include electrification of combustion vehicles.
• Hydrite -- Hydrite achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Other) for their solvent reclamation system, addressing both direct and upstream emissions sources. By recovering approximately 70% of spent solvents, the company cuts energy use and greenhouse gas emissions associated with virgin solvent production, decreases transportation-related emissions by reducing the need to ship new materials, and lowers disposal–related emissions.
• Madison Children’s Museum -- Madison Children's Museum achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Other) for their new strategic Climate Action Plan and partnership with ASTC for the 2025 The Air We Share grant. In daily operations, MCM's commitment to sustainability is visible in choices to use natural and sustainable materials in fabrication, like the invasive and rot-resistant Black Locust trees that that make the two-story climbing structure in their outdoor space, The Wonderground; a reclaimed airplane as a tinkering table; compostable containers, napkins, and utensils; and local, sustainable food choices in the pay-what-you-can Lunchbox Cafe (a first in the United States); and in ongoing efforts to make an almost 100-year-old building as energy efficient as possible.
• Madison Christian Community -- Madison Christian Community achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 3 Star) for offering composting sites to congregation members and neighbors. When the community gardens became infested with jumping worms, they joined the city program to offer compost bins and hosted training. Some of the compost from church returns to nourish the community and food pantry gardens.
• Madison College -- Madison College achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for their Truax Main Building. The facility, which features numerous energy efficiency features and rooftop solar, uses about half as much energy as a comparable facility.
• Madison Gas and Electric Company -- MGE achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for their main office building which has an ENERGY STAR score of 90 and includes a rooftop solar array.
• Madison Metropolitan School District received 22 awards this year.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Building Design, 4 Star) for Akira Toki Middle School. District staff cut embodied carbon by 15% in this all-electric school redesign that features geothermal heating and cooling. The design partners are OPN, Concord, JSD, and IMEG.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Building Design, 4 Star) for Cherokee Middle School. District staff cut embodied carbon by 15% in this all-electric school redesign that features geothermal heating and cooling. The design partners are OPN, Concord, JSD, and IMEG.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for the Doyle Administration Building. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 88, the facility is more efficient than about 87% of comparable US facilities.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Franklin Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 75, the school is more efficient than about 74% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Georgia O'Keefe Middle School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 80, the school is more efficient than about 79% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for Hawthorne Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 89, the school is more efficient than about 88% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Henderson Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 75, the school is more efficient than about 74% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for Holtzman Learning Center. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 87, the center is more efficient than about 86% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for Huegel Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 87, the school is more efficient than about 86% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Kennedy Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 81, the school is more efficient than about 80% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Lake View Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 76, the school is more efficient than about 75% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for La Follette High School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 80, the school is more efficient than about 79% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Leopold Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 77, the school is more efficient than about 76% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for Midvale Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 89, the school is more efficient than about 88% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Milele Chikasa Anana Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 76, the school is more efficient than about 75% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Nuestro Mundo Community School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 82, the school is more efficient than about 81% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Olson Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 80, the school is more efficient than about 79% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Roberto G. Sánchez Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 79, the school is more efficient than about 78% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for Sandburg Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 86, the school is more efficient than about 85% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Building Design, 4 Star) for Sennett Middle School. District staff cut embodied carbon by 15% in this all-electric school redesign that features geothermal heating and cooling. The design partners are OPN, IMEG, JSD, and Concord.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 2 Star) for Shorewood Hills Elementary School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 88, the school is more efficient than about 87% of comparable US schools.
o The Madison Metropolitan School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 1 Star) for Vel Phillips Memorial High School. With an ENERGY STAR Rating of 83, the school is more efficient than about 82% of comparable US schools.
• Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District received four awards this year:
o Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Catalyst) for their work in chloride reduction. Instead of pursuing the option to build expensive, energy-intensive treatment to remove salt from wastewater, the District adopted a forward-thinking pollution prevention approach that has cost less than $1 million and has resulted in significant environmental benefits to date. Working with stakeholders across sectors to address sources such as road salt and water softening, the program has reduced over 600,000 pounds of chloride from wastewater discharges to date. It has also led to notable reductions in road salt use, protecting local freshwater resources and avoiding major increases in energy costs from building additional treatment to remove chloride.
o The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 4 Star) for their Maintenance Facility which gets all of its electricity and all of its biogas from renewable sources. Pieper Electric installed the solar at the facility.
o The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 3 Star) for their Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant, which gets more than 80% of its gas from renewable sources along with about 40% of its electricity.
o Madison Sewerage District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Water, 3 Star) for their outstanding efforts in multiple areas. The District provides incentives across their Dane County service area to promote the reduction of winter salt use and increase high efficiency water softeners. They host a safe-water medicine take back program and posts signage about flushable materials.
• Midwest Solar Power -- Midwest Solar Power achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 1 Star) for composting food waste at their facility.
• Overture Center for the Arts -- Overture Center for the Arts achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Other) for their public clothing swap to reduce fast-fashion waste. This event promoted sustainable clothing practices to 941 attendees and saved an estimated 1,600 pounds of clothing from the landfill. Organized by Overture’s staff-led Sustainability Committee, all clothing donations were collected from the wider community, and remaining items were donated to local partners. The committee also partnered with DANEnet to accept electronic device donations, collecting 40 used laptops that DANEnet will refurbish or sell to support their Digital Equity Project.
• Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society -- Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 3 Stars) for the rooftop solar array at their facility. The array, installed by Full Spectrum Solar, provides more than 90% of the power to the facility, saving an estimated $54,000 over the life of the system.
• Purple Cow Organics -- Purple Cow Organics achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 4 Star) for their partnership in the Dane County Food Waste Program. Launched in 2025, more than 1,000 households participate in the program. Purple Cow Organics produces OMRI Listed, plant-based compost and soil products focused on improving soil biology, soil health, and long-term environmental sustainability. Each year, Purple Cow Organics recycles approximately 18 million pounds of organic material, reducing landfill waste while supporting healthier soils.
• REAP Food Group -- REAP Food Group achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 4 Star) for their food distribution program, Farms to Families (F2F), which sends out food bags to Dane County Latine-Indigenous residents. All of the products are from local small/medium sized farms, with a priority for historically marginalized producers. The food this program buys travels less miles and producers do not spray or apply any non-organic supplements to soil. The program also buys wholesale product at the end of the growing season-- much of which would otherwise go to waste. This is often 400-500 pounds of produce that can be stored through the cold months while continuing distributing. REAP incorporates the preservation of products, like where they take many flats of strawberries that will otherwise spoil in the next few days, wash/cut/bag and then freeze them to send for families in the winter.
• RecycleWisc -- RecycleWisc is recognized in the Catalyst category for its volunteer program which picks up Styrofoam in the Village of McFarland and takes it to a recycling facility. As of August 1, 2026, the service has kept over 7300 cubic feet of Styrofoam out of the Dane County landfill.
• Sun Prairie Area School District received three awards this year:
o Royal Oaks Elementary School achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 3 Star) for participating in a composting pilot program in partnership with the City of Sun Prairie, Green Box Compost and Sustain Dane. The program included lunch room recycling and a field trip where students participated in interactive stations to learn about what can be composted, worms’ roles as decomposers, and a tour to see how food scraps are processed into compost. Additionally Royal Oaks maintains a food share table during lunch where students can leave or take unopened food items.
o Sun Prairie West High School achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 1 Star) for participating in a composting pilot program in partnership with the City of Sun Prairie, Green Box Compost and Sustain Dane. The program included back of house composting with scraps collected from the production kitchen that not only serves the high school but additional elementary schools in the district.
o Token Springs achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Food Waste, 1 Star) for participating in a composting pilot program in partnership with the City of Sun Prairie, Green Box Compost and Sustain Dane. The program included lunch room composting and a field trip where students participated in interactive stations to learn about what can be composted, worms’ roles as decomposers, and a tour to see how food scraps are processed into compost.
• Sunnyside Development -- Sunnyside Development and its partners received 2026 Climate Champion (Building Design, 4 Star) status for Greenspire Apartments. The all-electric affordable housing complex features enhanced insulation, onsite solar and water conservation features. Sunnyside Development worked with Cityscape Architecture / Development S.C., Re:Vision Architecture, Full Spectrum Solar, Couillard Solar Foundation and Permaculture Works.
• Sustain Verona -- Sustain Verona is recognized in the Catalyst category for mobilizing and encouraging new solar installations in Verona. Verona's City Hall and fire station each received 25 KW arrays, while the Verona's Town Hall installed a 30 KW array thanks to advocacy from Sustain Verona. The group also worked with the community to raise over $100,000 to encourage the Verona Area School District to put a large solar array on the high school roof. This is currently in the late stages of planning for construction in 2027.
• University of Wisconsin Credit Union -- UW Credit Union earned 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 3 Star) for their Community Building at 8033 Excelsior Drive. The facility earned an ENERGY STAR score of 95, which means it is more efficient than 94% of comparable buildings.
• Village of McFarland received two awards this year:
o The Village of McFarland achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Renewable Energy, 1 Star) for the rooftop solar installation on their Government & Municipal Operations Building. The installation provides more than 30% of the power for the facility and was installed by Eagle Point Solar LLC.
o The Village of McFarland achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Other) for their solar farm partnership with the McFarland School District. This project included coordinating a unique three-party agreement. Through Alliant’s Customer Hosted Renewable Program, the project transformed an 8-acre farmland parcel into a 1.4-megawatt solar farm. Under the lease agreement structure, the Village leases the land to the School District, which serves as the “host” and subleases the land to Alliant for construction, operation, and maintenance of the solar farm. The School District receives lease payments and RECs from Alliant, which in turn provides a portion of both back to the Village. The 1.4-megawatt solar farm includes about 3,100 solar panels and produces enough electricity to power 250 homes annually. In 2025, the Village used ~1.8 million kWh of electricity. The Village’s shared portion of RECs generated will be retired to offset nonrenewable municipal energy use.
• Waunakee Community School District received three awards this year:
o The Waunakee Community School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion (Building Design, 3 Star) for Heritage Elementary, a school designed with sustainability, energy efficiency and long-term environmental stewardship in mind. The project partners include EUA - Architectural and Interior Design, Ring & DuChateau - HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Engineering, raSmith - Structural, Professional Engineering, LLC - Civil Engineering, and Westphal - Solar.
o The Waunakee Community School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Energy Use, 3 Star) for Heritage Elementary School. The school, which features an efficient building shell, multiple water and energy efficiency features and rooftop solar. The school uses less than a quarter of the energy used by comparable schools.
o The Waunakee Community School District achieved 2026 Climate Champion (Building Design, 3 Star) for the new Waunakee Community Middle School. The school includes a variety of energy efficiency and water-saving features and is projected to use about 1/4 of the energy used by the average Wisconsin secondary school. Project partners include EUA - Architectural and Interior Design Ring & DuChateau - HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Engineering raSmith - Structural Professional Engineering, LLC - Civil Engineering Westphal - Solar.
• 350 Wisconsin, Elevate, and Sierra Club -- 350 Wisconsin, Elevate Energy & the Sierra Club achieved 2026 Climate Champion status (Catalyst) for their WI Climate March, where organizations working on clean energy, democracy protection, indigenous rights, youth legal strategies, health, housing, and labor built new relationships that now support joint advocacy and future mobilizations. As primary organizing partners, they worked with more than 30 allied organizations to recruit and support partners, coordinate speakers and creative elements, craft clear public demands, and work with city officials on technical details and compliance. Together the organizations brought thousands of Wisconsinites into visible, collective action from Library Mall to the State Capitol, demonstrating broad, organized public support for climate solutions.
To learn more about the 2026 Climate Champions, visit the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change website and the related Climate Champions map.