Big building projects in Ann Arbor are going up green

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | Source: The Ann Arbor News

Green is becoming the key vocabulary word in downtown Ann Arbor as a number of developers push for more environmentally friendly features in their buildings.

Excerpt:

To Alex de Parry, building a green commercial building isn't just about the good publicity he might get or the higher rents he might someday be able to charge. It's about doing the right thing.

So when his company, Ann Arbor Builders, proposed the City Place apartment complex on South Fifth Avenue, he made sure the plans included an underground geothermal energy system and high-efficiency water fixtures.

"Ultimately, if there isn't a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the problems of global warming are going to get worse," De Parry said. "We can't all just bury our heads in the sand and say, 'I don't think it's all that bad.' We're creating a mess."

His project is one of at least three large residential projects planned for downtown Ann Arbor and more than 230 in Michigan planned or already built with environmentally-friendly building elements, including geothermally powered heating and cooling. They are among a half-dozen projects in the area that are being built to environmental standards known as LEED standards, set by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Read the rest of the story here.