For Grand Rapids, sustainability is just smart business

By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo

GRAND RAPIDS – From the highway, Grand Rapids, Mich. looks like any American city. Skyscraper shadows darken city blocks during the day. Streetlights, cars and the nightlife animate the city after sunset.

But in Grand Rapids, businesses and government are investing in alternative technologies while incorporating sustainable practices to save money, earn profits and develop a struggling state economy. Other Michigan cities are following the trend.

A politically conservative area of Michigan, Grand Rapids was once known as the “furniture capital” of the nation. It now has a new title – “America’s Greenest City”.

Earlier this year Fast Company, a business magazine that reports on digital media and technology, gave the city that moniker. It praised the city for “leading the nation in LEED-certified buildings per capita,” reducing government’s energy use by 10 percent and generating 20 percent of city power from renewable energy.

LEED-certified buildings meet the highest green building and performance measures by reducing waste, conserving energy and decreasing greenhouse emissions.

Investments in renewable energy are creating the market demand for businesses to come here, build wind turbines, develop green power and create new jobs, said Courtland Overmyer, the city of Grand Rapids sustainability manager.

Created in 2007, the task of the sustainability manager is to develop strategies and practices that will address challenges of the next century. Overmyer, appointed to the position after serving as Grand Rapids environmental service director, implemented a “triple bottom line” approach to management.

The triple bottom line is a business concept that connects environmental stewardship with economic growth and social equity.

“To me, going green is not sustainable, it is simply improving something in the environment without necessarily looking at poverty or recreating automobile jobs that were lost overseas,” explained Overmyer. “We are thinking of the city as a system, one that connects the environmental community with economic development and social repairs.”

Government savings from sustainable practices can lead to greater funding for social programs and conservation while furthering economic development as new businesses flock to cities investing in the technology and energy of the future, Overmyer said.

In recent years, the city installed an aeration system to reduce energy costs from its wastewater plant. Huge quantities of energy are needed to inject oxygen into a treatment tank that allows microorganisms to properly consume organic material in the water.

The city spent more money upfront on a system that reduced this high-energy requirement. But it now saves $300,000 to $400,000 a year in electricity costs, Overmyer said.

It also invested in a geothermal heating and cooling systems for the wastewater plant. Energy savings over five years has equaled the initial investment and no electricity is needed to heat or cool the building, Overmyer said.

These savings are now reinvested in other renewable projects and energy efficient systems that the city hopes will spur job growth.

A Case in Point

Many of the LEED-certified buildings in Western Michigan are home to businesses that see the profitability in sustainability. Conserving energy and reducing waste generate substantial savings.

In addition, environmentally friendly businesses lure talented people, explained Diane Bunse, environmental specialist with the global office furniture store Herman Miller.

Located in Western Michigan, Herman Miller made a name for itself in the environmental world when it decided in 1984 to forego use of rosewood — a rare tropical tree — in its signature chair products.

It is now in the middle of a most ambitious program — to generate zero waste by 2020. The company intends to reduce its greatest ecological impacts by 100 percent below 1994 levels, Bunse said.

“We’re talking about reducing air emissions, hazardous waste, process water use and solid waste going to the landfill,” Bunse said. On top of that, added Bunse, the company will be running on 100 percent alternative energy.

According to Herman Miller’s 2007 A Better World Report, reduction of these four pollutants and increased use of alternative energy has reduced the company’s environmental footprint by 10 percent over 2006. Along with other conservation programs, the company has reduced energy consumption costs by $1.55 million annually.

Statewide Initiatives

The state of Michigan is trying to encourage such energy-saving development. Last September Michigan’s state government passed a forward-looking energy package. Included in the legislation is a mandate that “10 percent of state’s energy needs come from renewable sources by 2015.”

Also incorporated into the bipartisan package is cutting power demand by 5.5 percent through energy efficiency and an income tax credit for those investing in alternative energy for Michigan.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm expects investments in alternative sources will save money and bring new businesses to Michigan, driving job growth in a state with high unemployment. The state has potential for being a great source of wind energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. It also has the infrastructure for developing the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles.

In the city of state government, positioning towards a sustainable future has been well underway.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero signed onto the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 2007. The agreement’s goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Lansing’s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide is part of the greater effort to govern efficiently, said Taylor Heins, director of Lansing’s Go Green Initiative.

The initiative works with the community to establish environmental practices and awareness. Major aspects include promoting environmental education within schools and providing businesses resources for sustainable management.

“We partner businesses with environmental organizations and promote what they are doing to incentivize further businesses to participate,” Heins said.

Over 200 businesses have voluntarily signed up for the Go Green business pledge to reduce waste, utilize alternative energy and implement recycling programs. Many begin by changing something small and invest in bigger projects when they see the savings add up, said Heins.

Though changes in Grand Rapids and Lansing have taken place, the national economic downturn could halt momentum. As stocks fall and retirement plans shrink, investments in alternative technologies like wind power and electric cars could be diverted towards affordable energy currently available on a mass scale.

“A lot of us are trying to recreate the 20th century model of business, but we lost how many automotive jobs trying to recreate the same jobs with obsolete methods,” Overmyer said.

The new paradigm is to take automotive jobs that know how to manufacture and turn them into another product like solar panels, so we can use these skill sets differently to help us with our future, Overmyer said.