MEO: Under Green Construction

In 2011, Michigan Energy Options is seeking LEED* Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) certification for its State Energy Demonstration Center and Main Office in East Lansing, Michigan. MEO stands to be the first LEED EBOM in East Lansing and one of only a few in Mid-Michigan. This bold undertaking signals to stakeholders and the public that our 32-year-old Center remains at the forefront of today’s issues in energy and sustainability.

Since we opened our doors in 1978 as Urban Options, a nonprofit, tens of thousands of people have visited our State Energy Demonstration Center to learn about energy conservation, renewable energy, recycling, water conservation, composting and green building.

Our Center—in a “reclaimed” c1920s house—has been an essential platform to our mission of guiding communities towards energy efficiency and sustainability.

As we seek LEED certification, we are also updating our exhibits and offerings to reflect the latest and the best in energy education and technology. The LEED process deepens our shade of green, continuing our tradition of being a trusted, innovative, accessible resource on energy and sustainability for Michigan’s residents.

In October 2010, Michigan Energy Options started its performance period for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance (LEED EBOM) certification process. The MEO Demonstration Center will be evaluated over the course of 14 months on the building’s performance in 7 categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Operations and Regional Priority.  For each of these categories, MEO will earn points for credits that cover a variety of national standards and benchmarks for sustainable building practices.

Give our Energy Star rating of 95 and grassroots green building efforts ,the Demonstration Center located in East Lansing has long been considered a “green” building, but LEED is an opportunity to evaluate all of the systems in the building (including daily staff operations and maintenance), and how they work together to create a truly optimized sustainable center.

When Michigan Energy Options submits for potential certification in 2012, there will be many new features in the demonstration center that will showcase the latest in sustainable technology, including our 3.1kW solar panel system that will feed into “the grid,” and a renovated urban site to demonstrate stormwater management and gardening. By the end of the performance period, MEO will have reduced the total water consumption by 30 percent in addition to capturing a projected 90 percent of stormwater on-site. In addition, a comprehensive recycling system has been established for everything from paper to Styrofoam and all purchases that have been made within the performance period have sustainable content such as being manufactured locally, refurbished, or with recycled content.

LEED EBOM has provided a unique opportunity for collaboration with local sponsors, such as DC Engineering who generously donated the site plan for the center and Niagara Conservation who has donated water efficiency measures (For a complete list of our sponsors and partners, see below). It has also been a great opportunity for our staff to get together and create policies and best management practices that reflect a healthy standard for office operations and maintenance, including everything from our green cleaning policy to our exterior hardscape management plan (which uses no artificial irrigation and no artificial chemicals).  These adjustments have fit well with our over-arching goal of education for sustainable building practices, as our entire staff is much more aware of how the building performs and how our actions affect the performance of the center.

LEED is one of the leaders in third party certification for sustainable building sciences and operation standards.  It is a third party certification rating system created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Michigan Energy Options is working with the Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance rating system 2009. Check back to this page in early spring for progress on our LEED journey and how to book your tour of the Center when it’s finished.

For More Information, please consult these Links:

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance (LEED EBOM)

Energy Star

Niagara Conservation

United States Green Building Council (USGBC)

DC Engineering