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Volunteers Wanted
Writers
We're looking for people who are interested in writing for our monthly column in MiBiz.
Marketing Chair
The Marketing and Communications Chair will lead the marketing and communication efforts. This member will be responsible for coordinating press releases, monitoring the website, and email communication for events and other USGBC West Michigan activities.
Please contact renae.hesselink@enichols.com for more details.
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USGBC West MichiganPO Box 6332Grand Rapids, MI 49516T: 616.301.6688E: admin@usgbcwm.orgwww.usgbcwm.org
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Mission:
To transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, in a way that improves the quality of life in West Michigan
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Letters From the Chairs:
Incoming Chair - Kris Ford
I feel honored that I was chosen to serve as the Chair of the Board of Directors for 2012. It will be difficult to succeed Renae Hesselink, who has provided excellent leadership over the past two years, but I am up for the challenge. Thank you, Renae, for the countless hours you've spent promoting the West Michigan Chapter's mission and values.
This year we will offer various educational and networking opportunities for each Chapter Member. These opportunities will include obtaining CE hours and participating in interest circles or branches. Look for more to follow next month.
Kris Ford, LEED AP BD+C, Owen-Ames-Kimball, Chair
krisf@oakmi.com
Outgoing Chair - Renae Hesselink
A new Board of Directors is in place as of our January 11th board meeting. I am very encouraged about the enthusiasm that this new board brings to the table. In today's work environment most of us are handling a heavier work load, wearing more hats, and trying to balance these things in our personal lives. It can be difficult to carve out time for volunteer work. Thank you for allowing me to serve as Board Chair for two years. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I will continue to work diligently to make sure there is a smooth transition to our new Chair, Kris Ford. Kris has been active in our Chapter for years and has been on the Board of Directors for four years. He brings very good experience to the position. I am anxious, once again, to be able to focus my attention on our green school efforts. You will be hearing from me as I encourage our membership to support me in these efforts. I encourage all of you to get involved with the leadership of our organization, as there are many opportunities. I hope you will be pleased with the plans we have in place to make our Chapter even stronger moving forward. Again, thank you and look forward to the exciting things to come! Renae Hesselink, LEED AP, Outgoing Chair
renae.hesselink@enichols.com
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2012 Board Election Results
Congratulations to the following members on their newly elected positions:
- CHAIR Kris Ford, Owen-Ames-Kimball Co.
- VICE-CHAIR Steve Hassevoort, InForm Architecture
- TREASURER Cheri Holman, Hurst Mechanical
- SECRETARY Victor Tvedten, Energy Finance Analytics
Our continued thanks to those serving on the 2012 Board:
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LEED Green Associate Study Group
The U.S. Green Building Council West Michigan Chapter is offering a facilitated study group to prepare individuals for the challenging LEED Green Associate (GA) Examination.
Classes will be held at the Tassell M-TEC building located at 622 Godfrey Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503.
Facilitated classes will meet bi-weekly from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on the following dates:
- February 13, 2012
- February 27, 2012
- March 12, 2012
- March 26, 2012
Click here for a registration form and more information
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Green Ribbon Schools
The Green Ribbon Schools program was recently launched by the U. S. Department of Education to recognize schools that save energy and reduce operating costs, create environmentally friendly learning spaces, promote student health, and provide environmental education to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum. On January 5, 2012, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced it will participate in the Green Ribbon Schools program. According to the guidance released, Green Ribbon Schools will have achieved or made considerable progress toward the three pillars established in the program: 1) energy efficient buildings; 2) healthy students and school environment; and 3) environmental literacy of all graduates. The combined achievement in these three areas will be the basis for the Green Ribbon Schools award.
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Campus and Community Conservation Challenge
USGBC Students - Michigan Groups, along with USGBC Detroit Regional Chapter and Western Michigan Chapters, invite your school to get involved in a unique but ambitious challenge involving conserving energy and water for one month. Modeled off of the yearly Campus Conservation Nationals, which can be found at competetoreduce.org, this challenge is not limited to a campus that has dorms but instead open to any college, university, trade school, community college, etc. It is meant also to create a link to the community around the campus and create a larger impact that previously was never thought about This challenge will primarily occur during the month of April and is looking to grow in size, participation, and impact each year, and with your help and participation it can! Interested?:
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Habitat for Humanity Kent County has won the Green Build 2011 Award for Outstanding Program Commitment to LEED for Homes. Currently they have achieved 70 Certified LEED Projects. The spotlight project for their award was a 110-year-old single-family home in the historic Wealthy Heights neighborhood in SE Grand Rapids. The 53 HERS score for this home was, at the time, the most energy efficient home built by Habitat Kent. Habitat discovered that it costs approximately $8000 more to incorporate green building into a home; however, annual savings for electric, water, and heating will be at least $1,000 per year.
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You are invited to participate in a poster pin-up of Best Practices in Sustainable Solutions. This exhibition will take place at the 2012 Greening the Heartland Conference, which engages regional collaboration on solutions for sustainable communities! Submissions are being requested from each regional member chapter and branch. Each submission will be reviewed for completeness and Best Practice standards as applied to sustainability and quality of life. The submission reviews will be a three-phase process from local, to state, then conference peer review. Finalists will be included in the poster pin-up on display at the conference. Entry Deadline is February 21, 2012.
Entry Form Entry Calendar |
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Join the AIA Grand Valley Chapter on Thursday, February 2nd, for a presentation by Jim Sewell, who will speak about the ongoing historic preservation efforts at Taliesin, the former home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Location: Wealthy Theater
Doors Open: 6:30pm
Cocktail Hour: 6:30pm-7:30pm
Lecture: 7:30pm-8:45pm
Afterglow: 8:45pm-10:00pm
This is a free and public event organized by AIA Grand Valley. Seating is limited to the first 400 attendees.
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Membership
 Welcome to all of our new and renewing members! - Terry Pahl, Grand Valley State University
- Stephanie Hinman, The Hinman Company
- Joseph Wadel, KEMA Services
- Patrick Scott, ASSA ABLOY
- Jeffrey Hawkins, Envirologic Technologies
- Becky Kliss
Our membership committee is looking for additional committee members. If you would like to be part of this committee please email admin@usgbcwm.org. Visit our web site http://usgbcwm.org/membership for more information about membership.
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Ways to Get Involved
- Lead an Interest Circle
- Support the Chapter with your continuing membership, so that we can support you.
- Send newsletter content to admin@usgbcwm.org. Articles welcome!
- Make a tax-deductable contribution to your Chapter.
Contact admin@usgbcwm.org with articles for our monthly radio show. WGVU FM airs a 20-minute interview show the fourth Monday of each month titled Getting Green - Hosted by Shelly Irwin. It's an opportunity to educate and communicate all things green. We are looking for ideas, topics and potential guests. |
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