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Intended purpose:
- This handbook goes beyond stating that ‘green’
is good. This handbook of sustainable development projects in
Michigan is intended to demystify “green” development
practices for real estate developers, design professionals, and
policy-makers in the State of Michigan and beyond.
- By explaining sustainable development practices, identifying
the market for green buildings and grounding the concept in eleven
built projects within this state, the publication hopes to catch
the attention of those private and public individuals engaged
in development.
Audience:
- This document was designed and organized to cater to the needs
and interests of any group or individual involved in real estate
acquisition and/or development. This includes:
- Real estate developers
- Design professionals, such as landscape architects, architects,
and planners
- Local and state policy-makers
- Building owners
- Current and prospective homeowners
Message(s):
- Sustainable development is feasible and affordable in Michigan.
It has an increasing presence in the state and the demand for
green development is rising (see handbook pages 14-15, 20-24).
- The benefits of sustainable development include financial,
environmental, and social outcomes (see handbook pages 9-11).
- Green development can vary from simple actions, using off-the-shelf
technologies, to more complex, integrated strategies (see handbook
pages 16-17).
- The integrated, green design approach pays considerable dividends
to the developer, the community, and the environment (see handbook
pages 18-19).
- Eleven case studies of sustainable development projects in
Michigan (representing residential, institutional, commercial
and educational facilities), demonstrate the feasibility and benefits
of sustainable / green development in this climate and in this
real estate market (see handbook pages 28-101).
Method of development (hand rendering, computer graphics,
etc.):
- Handbook content and case study projects were chosen through
collaboration with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ).
- Introductory content (handbook pages 9-25) was developed by
in-person interviews, materials collected from conferences attended
by the authors, as well as publications and periodicals on the
subject.
- Creating the eleven case study narratives required interviewing
the ultimate clients, making multiple site visits, coordinating
professional photography, and following up with discussions with
developers, contractors, architects, landscape architects, engineers,
and lending institutions to assemble the relevant details (handbook
pages 28-101).
- The document was composed using QuarkXpress desktop publishing
software.
Impact and effectiveness:
- This publication, in its many forms, will hopefully advance
the conversation around green and sustainable development in the
state of Michigan encourage others to undertake “sustainable” development
by revealing the details of eleven Michigan projects.
- Three thousand printed copies will be completed on Tuesday,
May 31st. These handbooks will be distributed (not for sale) across
the state of Michigan by Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality representative and by our other project partners (see
inside back cover of the handbook for a listing of our partners).
Several hundred copies will be mailed to local municipalities
and developers. Several hundred copies will also be distributed
outside of Michigan as the authors travel to related conferences
and trade shows (also not for sale) in the next few months. Case
study contact persons will also receive approximately 5 copies
each.
Other issues as appropriate:
- Due to the conflict between the deadline for this award submission
and our expected print delivery date, the version of the handbook
submitted for your consideration is a spiral-bound replica. The
3,000 perfect-bound copies currently being printed will have higher
resolution images, a more sophisticated binding, and more interesting
paper (recycled, of course).
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