by Brianna Crandall — July 18, 2014—Scott Woosley, executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), recently announced the MSHDA facility has set the example for MSHDA-funded projects statewide by earning its own Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver green building certification for operations and maintenance by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). MSHDA is the first State of Michigan agency to achieve LEED status for its office, and only the second LEED v4 O+M to be certified in the world.
“We took this on because we wanted to practice what we were preaching about building energy efficient, durable housing for the people we are here to serve,” said Peter Hughes, LEED-accredited sustainable development specialist in MSHDA’s Downtown and Community Services Division. “It was hard for me to look at a developer and say, ‘You should take on these cost premiums,’ because when I looked around our own ‘house’ I saw that we didn’t have single-stream recycling, energy-efficient light fixtures or efficient water usage. Now, we can say to developers, ‘Look, we did it, under budget, on time, and it shouldn’t be that complicated for you to do it, too.'”
The 105,500-square-foot, four-story rented building at 735 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing hosts about 270 employees on any given day. After getting the green light from MRT Management staff, rental property managers of the MSHDA building, MSHDA managers approved the $85,500 budget, based on the project funding itself in 4-1/2 years. That included consulting costs, lighting and water fixture changes, new landscaping, and changing policies and procedures and doing some fine-tuning based on an energy audit.
“Everyone was pleasantly surprised when we ended up with more savings than anticipated at a lower cost,” Hughes said. Actual project costs came in at $59,431, a 30% savings. While 10% energy savings and 15% water savings were projected, the savings came in at 10% and 21%, respectively. The end result is savings of $17,000 a year, meaning the project will be paid off in 3-1/2 years.
Hughes said they received extra help from the USGBC for participating in the more rigorous LEED v4 pilot program, and lauded consultant Gavin Gardi of The Christman Company and G2 Consulting, Inc., for his help. Gardi said MSHDA was already in a sustainable organizational mindset, and he worked in tandem with them to offer a complete range of experience-based professional services from reviews, team assignments, evaluation, tracking and documentation until the project received certification.
Project highlights include:
- Used less irrigation and watering of landscaping, resulting in a 36% reduction in the use of potable water;
- Reduced indoor water and sewage usage by 21% with retrofits for plumbing faucets and flush valves;
- Diverted 19,500 pounds of metal, plastic and glass; 144,300 pounds of paper; and 15,200 pounds of cardboard from the landfill for a total diversion rate of 86%;
- Utilized heat pump-based HVAC and lighting systems that are well maintained and employ efficient equipment and technologies resulting in an Energy Star score of 84 (on a 100-point scale);
- Switched to low-mercury, long-life lamps that are 22% more energy efficient;
- Used sustainable carpeting and adhesives with low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in flooring upgrade; and
- Employ a green housekeeping program to protect the health of staff and to not cause harm to the environment.
For those interested in learning more about MSHDA’s LEED certification for an existing building, Hughes offers tours of the building. To schedule a tour, call 517/373-3980.
