A Green Picture
Recently found in the January/February 2010 issue of Corp. Magazine under the title “2010 Going Green Winners” is an article of a recent project that received certification as a LEED silver building.
-In an effort to be “picture perfect” when it comes to conservation, SchoolPictures.com decided to renovate a pre-1950 structure, making it the first such building in Michigan to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver status. The company, known for taking more than 3 million student images and 10,000 class panoramic portraits, also changed its business practices to include a recycling and reuse program. “The past year truly defines our efforts to go green and limit our carbon footprint,” notes Skip Cerier, SchoolPictures.com president. “It goes without saying that ‘green’ is not just something we should do to market our company’s name or brand. It’s a way we should be living in our community simply because it’s the right thing to do.” Formerly the facility that housed Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Mich., SchoolPictures.com’s new headquarters includes green features such as: additional insulation to improve heating and cooling; low-wattage lighting and some motion-sensitive lighting; new base board heating and an increased number of zones for better efficiency; all new double thermal-pane windows; waterless urinals, which will save approximately 30,000 gallons of water per year; and all new recycled flooring products including non-PVC tile. During the renovation, the company recycled 80 percent of the 72 tons of debris that were removed from the site. Many materials were put back into the building including hundreds of glazed blocks to construct new walls and the original marble slab window sills. Counter tops were made from recycled beer bottles. “We also donated items from our building that were discarded by the previous occupant including library book shelving, wood doors and computer monitors, which are now being used by others in our community,” Cerier says. “We supplied a local library with $30,000 worth of shelving they needed and otherwise would have had to purchase. Now that we’re settled into our environmentally friendly facility, we continue to make every effort to be as green as possible. For example, we make it a habit to recycle paper and cardboard, and we use green cleaning products. We also participate in a program with DTE Energy to purchase our power solely from renewable energy sources.” Renewable energy offset programs allow companies to take advantage of renewable energy without having to purchase the hardware, such as a wind turbine, Cerier said.
Midwestern Consulting provided surveying, site planning, civil engineering and landscape architecture to this project. Within the past few months our design team has now been part of 2 projects that have attained LEED certification.