Blog - Page 2 of 7 - USGBC West Michigan Chapter

Back to Our Roots: Thriving Communities from Urban Forestry

Trees play a vital role in a healthy urban environment by providing city streets with shade, wildlife habitat and beauty, among many other benefits. Anyone who has ever visited a neighborhood that has lost its tree canopy due to disease, rampant urban development or simple neglect knows what a difference this greenery makes to the…

USGBC-WM attends the Grand Rapids Neighborhood Summit

The 4th annual GR Neighborhood Summit, hosted by the City of Grand Rapids at the GVSU Pew Campus in the DeVos Center, proved to be another successful year in which City residents left inspired about the possibilities in their community. The annual event is designed to connect residents, build skills and leverage their leadership to…

Navigating Building Audits: an enlightening start to the ZNE Series

The first of a series of Zero Net Energy (ZNE) events hosted by the Grand Rapids 2030 District, titled “Navigating Building Audits”, was inaugurated on the 20th of February, 2018 for a Lunch & Learn at The Knickerbocker – New Holland Brewery. Local experts, Mark Zoeteman from Fishbeck Thompson Carr & Huber, Eric DeVries from…

Geothermal Energy Comes to Michigan’s State Capitol Building

By Chuck Otto, USGBC-WM Staff Writer The Michigan Capitol in Lansing is in the midst of a conversion of its heating and cooling system to geothermal energy. The geothermal renovation is part of a two-year, $70 million project known as the Capitol Infrastructure Upgrade (CIU), an effort designed to bring the 138-year-old building into the…

Zero Net Energy: Workshop Highlights

At a workshop sponsored by Consumers Energy with partners from Grand Rapids 2030 District (GR2030) and New Building Institute (NBI), experts took a deep dive into Zero Net Energy (ZNE) for midwest buildings. The event took place at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) on Tuesday, November 14th, 2017. Cheri Holman, Director of the GR2030…

GVSU Wins the 2017 EXPI Award

Grand Valley State University Facilities Planning Department was the Sustainable Construction and Innovation Award Recipient at the 2017 West Michigan Design and Construction Expo. The Sustainable Construction and Innovation Award recognizes construction and innovation that has proven economic, environmental and/or social benefits, contributing to sustainable building practices. The innovation will be recognized as a robust project,…

City of Grand Rapids Pace Launch Celebration

Mayor Bliss, GR 2030 District and Lean & Green Michigan celebrate launch of Grand Rapids PACE program Mayor Rosalynn Bliss joined representatives from Grand Rapids 2030 District and Lean & Green Michigan, along with the City’s new sustainability manager on Monday at an event celebrating the launch of the Grand Rapids PACE (Property Assessed Clean…

No Time to Waste; Waste Diversion in Construction

Managing waste has been a ball and chain on society throughout the years, and we are still in the process of ironing out systems that are efficient and sustainable. According to the EPA’s 2014 study on Waste Management, published in 2016, 258 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated. With a statistic like…

LEED Recertification – Get the Facts

LEED is a third-party verification for green buildings. Pursuing and achieving LEED certification provides independent verification of a buildings green features in design, construction, operations and maintenance. How long does certification last? A building can never lose its LEED certification achievement. You will always be able to say that the building was certified to the…

Net Zero, Zero Carbon, Carbon Neutrality, Oh My!

For some time Zero Net Carbon (ZNC) was not clearly defined, but ten Green Building Councils (including United States & China) worked to change that. They convened in New York City on September 30, 2016 with the goal of aligning their ZNC definitions. Architecture 2030, a non-profit dedicated to combating climate change through innovative design,…