Sustainability : Development News

Light bulbs that are part of a million-dollar-plus investment from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation could flip the switch on job creation, energy savings and environmental protection.

Through the MEDC's Advanced Lighting Technology Demonstration grants, 14 Michigan communities are sharing the $1,066,429 pool. They're committing to updating their bulbs to higher tech, energy saving designs and, when possible, to buying them from Michigan manufacturers. The object is to save money (taxpayer dollars) on energy costs, prevent greenhouse gases by replacing old-style inefficient bulbs and create jobs that involve the nuts and bolts of updating, replacing and maintaining the new bulbs.

Melanie McCoy, general manager of Wyandotte's municipal services department, says the LED project will be completed in tandem with a solar panel installation on city buildings.

"What we're going to do is actually a fabulous project," she says.

The $100,000 grant will pay for part of a project to replace existing street lamps and pedestrian walkway lights along a path that leads from the public library, down Biddle Avenue through downtown and up Eureka Road for several blocks to the high school.

The project, which will go out to bid as soon as the city searches for Michigan companies that can benefit, will be completed by next July. At the same time the city will use its own funds to add solar power generators to the library and a water department building.

"This is a combination of a renewable energy project together with an energy efficiency project," McCoy says.

MEDC President and CEO Michael A. Finney says in a statement announcing the award of the grants that "the energy and cost savings benefits plus the maintenance savings due to the longer life of the lamps are impressive with the newer technology lighting that's now available. These benefits are more important than ever to local governments in reducing operating expenses."
 
"In addition, manufacturing of advanced lighting technologies is a growing industry in Michigan and has the potential to create a new source of jobs and investment for local and state economies."

The types of lighting to be used in the government facilities and on public transportation vehicles include LEDs, or light emitting diodes, AKA solid state lighting; induction lighting, and plasma lighting.

The recipients of the grants must collect data and report their energy savings, cost savings, jobs created. The Michigan Energy Office will require that funded grantees regularly collect, track, and report metrics data related to energy savings, cost savings, jobs created and emissions reductions.

Besides Wyandotte, other metro Detroit recipients are Roseville, $81,074; Hazel Park, $50,150; Farmington Hills, $81,405; and Detroit, $100,000.

Source: Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Melanie McCoy, city of Wyandotte
Writer: Kim North Shine

DTE Energy's fifth solar farm will be fired up this fall at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills.

The roof-top photovoltaic system will be installed on 125,000 square feet of rooftop at the all-girls Catholic school on 11 Mile and Middlebelt Roads, within view of passersby. The cost of the project is $2.5 million and is part of DTE's SolarCurrents program, which promotes the use of alternative energy. DTE plans to spend more than $100 million on the SolarCurrents program, which has several facets.

The program aims to meet a state mandate for "ten percent of our generation to come from renewable sources by 2015," says DTE Energy spokesman Scott Simons.

"We're pleased that Mercy High School will be the first private high school to participate in SolarCurrents, which is one of the largest distributed solar programs in the country," Trevor Lauer, DTE Energy's vice president of marketing and renewables, says in a statement. "We're seeing that the program has encouraged the development of new renewable energy projects by providing financial incentives to nonresidential customers interested in solar energy."

Mercy, which has been designated a Green School, joins other solar farms at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Ford Motor Corp, General Motors Corp., and Monroe Community College, Simons says. They all are expected to participate in the program for 20 years. In return they receive discounts on their utility bills and payment to cover the inconvenience of construction.

Besides solar, DTE is building wind farms and creating sources of biomass and other forms for power. The utility is expecting to spend nearly $2 billion to do that.

The power generated will go into DTE's grid for all its customers to use, he says.

Source: Scott Simons, spokesman, DTE Energy
Writer: Kim North Shine

Auburn Hills is preparing for a world where electric vehicle chargers are commonplace in new construction, where they're as prevalent in parking lots as handicapped spots and where there will be an interconnected network of charging stations similar to the cell phone towers that have made communication so instant.

The city that's home to Chrysler Group has passed an ordinance, believed to be the first in Michigan and patterned off the best practices of communities in other states, that will encourage developers, builders, home owners and business owners, to make electric car charging stations a regular part of construction.

The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Ordinance passed on July 11th will also offer guidance during construction and ideally save time now and money in the future, says Steven Cohen, director of community development for Auburn Hills.

"Our main goal was to raise awareness about the infrastructure that's needed to support electric vehicles," Cohen says. "We want to share with homeowners, developers and also with municipal planners throughout the state that this is something that's coming.  We want to support this technological innovation in the auto industry."

He says an ordinance like this one encourages, but does not require, property owners to "rough in" their home garages or parking lots for future charging station installations. It cuts red tape and makes them easy to install. Making an electric charging station part of a home garage is simple and similar to the electric lines and circuits needed to power something like a refrigerator or air conditioning unit, but is much cheaper to install when the home is being built.

"The electric vehicle is not going to take over the market, but there's going to be a sizable segment of motorists that will demand a convenient network of charging stations.  Michigan communities will need to prepare for this anticipated consumer demand and be ready when it comes," Cohen says.

By 2015, all automakers will offer electric vehicles as the federal government encourages alternative forms of energy in an effort to lessen America's reliance on gasoline, Cohen says.

"This innovation is good for Detroit, good for Michigan, and good for America," Cohen says. "We encourage Michigan communities to proactively plan for and adapt to this paradigm shift in how vehicles will be refueled. Thousands of electric vehicles, like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf, will be on the road before we know it. It is very exciting."

Source: Steven Cohen, director of community development, city of Auburn Hills
Writer: Kim North Shine

A stormwater management education trail is coming to Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, and whether you get the point of a project like that or not, you should know that what will be taught there affects us all.

Anyone, not just Lawrence Tech students, can walk the trail, which in large part is funded by a $57,000 donation from the Erb Family Foundation of Birmingham. It will be open to anyone wanting to understand how managing the water that runs off of our homes, businesses, schools and so on is crucial to keeping streams, rivers, lakes - and plants, animals and people - healthy, says Donald Carpenter, an associate professor at Lawrence Tech and founder and director of the Great Lakes Stormwater Management Institute at the school.

The education comes through signs posted at seven or eight stops along the trail and through booklets with more detailed information about ways to manage water use and storm drainage so that it is less damaging to the environment. The signs will describe various run-off prevention and water preservation features on Lawrence Tech's campus, most of which are within 100 yards of each other and easy to link on a trail system. There are green roofs, porous pavement, rain barrels, native plants and other methods. They're all things that most anyone can add to their home. Carpenter hopes that the trail, along with other efforts at the school, will help educate builders, architects, local zoning officials and others that these features can be a regular part of any construction.

"Water that's running straight off parking lots and roads is highly polluted," Carpenter says. "There are ways to slow down the flow of that water so that it's less polluted by the time it gets to the streams, rivers and lakes."

In addition to an in-person tour of the trail, there will be virtual education tours online and pdf files matching the information provided in the trail guide booklets. Both projects will be advertised to the general public, schools, organizations that may want to tour, Carpenter says.

"In general I think there is a disconnnect for a lot of the public in understanding how water management works, the tie between water management, and protecting our water," says Carpenter, who finds in his school education visits that elementary and middle school-aged children have a better grasp of the topic than high schoolers and their parents. "Some people still don't understand when they fertilize their lawns, don't pick up after dogs, use too many pesticides…that they're having an impact on our water."

Carpenter hopes the trail will be ready in time for a green infrastructure conference being hosted by Lawrence Tech Sept. 23. If it's not ready by then or at the latest October, it will debut in the spring, he says.

The mission of the Erb Family Foundation, founded by Fred and Barbara Erb, is to nurture environmentally healthy and culturally vibrant communities in metro Detroit by supporting projects aimed at restoring the Great Lakes Basin.

Source: Donald Carpenter, associate professor, Lawrence Technological University, and founder and director, Great Lakes Stormwater Management Institute
Writer: Kim North Shine

It is the wave of the future and Rochester is starting to catch a ride. Two electric car charging stations will be hooked up within eight weeks in the city. One plug-in will be installed downtown, says Kristi Trevarrow, executive director of the Rochester Downtown Development Authority. The other is likely to go in near near Rochester City Hall. A final decision on locations and pricing to users is expected this week.

DTE Energy is providing $25,000 via a U.S. Department of Energy program for the equipment. It's part of an effort to promote alternative energy.

The need for car charging stations is there as two electric car charging stations at the Royal Park Hotel are in high demand, Trevarrow says.

"People come in and say, 'I'll plug in at the Park,' " she says. "I think there would definitely be demand."

Source: Kristi Trevarrow, executive director, Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine

DTE Energy's community gardens are growing by four acres and possibly hundreds of new volunteers this year.

Farming season for the 10 DTE Energy Gardens kicked off in Southfield earlier this week, starting a multi-faceted project that provides food to Gleaners Community Food Bank. The gardens also offer volunteers the opportunity to get involved in their communities, to get more exercise and to learn about gardening. The gardens also serve as aesthetic buffers around DTE facilities.

Last year, the 10 gardens produced 44,000 pounds of food for Gleaners and its food banks. With extra land and more volunteers - as many as 1,000 total - the amount of food grown is expected to increase this year, DTE Spokesman Scott Simons says.

DTE Energy and Gleaners started the program at two electric substations in 2008 and have since expanded to company properties in Allen Park, Birmingham, Farmington Hills, Frenchtown Township, Plymouth Township, Pontiac, Southfield, Lyon Township, Washington Township and Westland.

Source: Scott Simons, spokesman, DTE Energy
Writer: Kim North Shine

Business is going so well for Lighthouse Molding, Inc. that it's moved from a mere 1,300 square feet of space in Sterling Heights into a 16,000-square-foot facility in the same city.

The 5-year-old advanced manufacturing company makes environmentally-friendly packaging for electronic assemblies. Their packaging, commonly known in the business as low pressure molding, provides a barrier for electronic assemblies from water, dirt, dust, vibrations, and other enemies of electronic machinery.

With two big contracts coming up later this year, one with automotive, the other a consumer product, the company needed more space and will hire 15-18 employees to do the work, says Lighthouse Molding President Scott Lowes. The company currently has six employees.

"We need this big facility to handle the growth," says Lowes.

He has a background in traditional moldings, but became hooked on Lighthouse's innovative process when he saw its potential to benefit customers.

He says when new equipment is done and other changes made by year's end, the company will have invested at least $100,000.

Source: Scott Lowes, president, Lighthouse Moldings
Writer: Kim North Shine

A DTE Energy program that provided incentives to customers to install solar energy systems on their homes and businesses has reached its goal for alternative energy generation and is no longer taking new applications.

"The SolarCurrents program demonstrated that financial incentives can spur significant growth and interest in an emerging renewable technology," says Trevor Lauer, DTE Energy vice president of Marketing & Renewables. "We are proud of the role this program has played in helping Michigan's solar industry transition to become a viable and growing industry within our state."

Through two programs, one a pilot for customer-owned solar installations, the other for utility-owned installations, DTE has met goals of promoting photovoltaic solar power in order to generate a total of 20 megawatts of renewable energy -- five from residential installations and 15 from the others. DTE handed out $25 million in incentives for nearly 500 installations in metro Detroit and will continue to offer some incentives only for large utility-owned installations on large customers' rooftops and land.

SolarCurrents was created in 2009 to help DTE meet the state's renewable energy goals. The company's plan is to add about 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy, or about 10 percent of all its power -- by 2015. Wind turbines will generate most of that.

DTE says its utility-owned program will represent one of the largest distributed solar energy programs in the country and lead to major opportunities for the emerging solar power industry in Michigan. DTE plans to invest $112 million in the program.

DTE Energy spokesman Scott Simons says DTE will file an amended renewable energy plan next month with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The amended plan will detail any proposed changes from the original SolarCurrents plan, which was approved by the MPSC two years ago.

"Until then, we will be reviewing our entire renewable energy program, including SolarCurrents," Simons says.

Customers can still install solar energy systems and work with DTE to connect them to their electric system, but the incentives are no longer available.

Source: Scott Simons, spokesman, DTE Energy
Writer: Kim North Shine

Goods delivered by Rochester-Hills-based healthcare supplies provider Wright & Fillippis are getting to their destinations on propane power as the company converts 25 percent of its fleet to this clean form of fuel.

That means 12 of Wright & Fillippis' trucks and vans will run on propane as they deliver goods in Michigan. About half the vehicles have already been converted and are on the road and a propane station is up and operating at the company's headquarters.

"They're hoping to convert the entire fleet eventually," says Matt Sandstrom, mobility division manager for the Clean Energy Coalition, an Ann Arbor-based non-profit that steers companies through the process of converting to alternative fuels, whether for transportation or building.

The Wright & Fillippis fleet conversion came out of a partnership with the coalition through a $15 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

Wright & Fillippis and the Clean Energy Coalition worked with Roush CleanTech, a Plymouth Township company that designs and manufactures liquid propane autogas fuel systems for a variety of light and medium Ford vehicles. The technology, which reduces vehicle operating costs and vehicle emissions, is available to consumers through authorized Ford dealerships.

The Wright & Fillippis project is one of several clean-fuel conversions being directed by the coalition through a $40 million agreement with the Department of Energy, says Sandstrom.

Of all the clean fuel projects, about a third are propane, he says. The others are compressed natural gas, electric, and hydraulic hybrid, he says. The type of fuel used depends on the type of fleet and uses of the vehicles, and the coalition guides companies through the learning process to select what's best for them.

Companies working with the Clean Energy Coalition include Frito-Lay, which is converting 90 of its vehicles, about half of its Michigan fleet, to propane, and U-haul, which is converting 30 vehicles.

"It should be very clear that this is not R&D. This is a deployment of these technologies… They've already been true and tried," Sandstrom says.

For Wright & Fillippis, propane autogas will result in the use of 48,000 fewer gallons of gasoline, the elimination of 931,200 pounds of carbon dioxide released, and a savings of $3,000 per converted vehicle, or $36,000 total thus far.

Source: Matt Sandstrom, mobility division manager, Clean Energy Coalition
Writer: Kim North Shine

The Comfort Suites hotel in Southgate is being held up as an example of how alternative energy can improve the bottom line.

Raj Patel, owner of the 78-room hotel on Northline Road at I-75, says after "going line by line through the budget and running out of places to make cuts," he looked for ways to cut energy costs. Patel, who has an engineering degree and whose father is a thermal dynamics engineer, researched solar electric, wind, and solar thermal forms of power and opted for the last.

"We've seen upwards of a savings of 50 percent on water usage…Before we were just dumping gallons of water down the drain….And there's been a 70-75 percent reduction in our natural gas bill. We are basically paying what the owner of a large home would pay, about $500 a month," says Patel, who believes so wholeheartedly in this form of energy that he joined Starpak Group, an Ann Arbor company that showed Patel how he cut his energy usage at the hotel.

Patel's hotel, which has won the Greening Downriver Award from the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber, will be the site of the chamber's After Business, Ours event on April 28. Dozens of Wayne County-area businesses are expected to attend and learn from Patel about how his energy costs have been cut.

Patel will show the guests the hotel's two-part solar-powered system.

Powered basically by solar power arrays and propylene glycol, one part of the solar thermal system warms all water used in the hotel. The second, a waste recovery system, dehumidifies the pool and captures the vast quantities of heat and water usually released during that process. The system recirculates it and reuses the heat that would normally be sent outdoors and the water that would go down the drain. The systems work all year long, Patel says, whether cold or warm outside.

Solar thermal power is a different and less common approach than solar, or photovoltaic, panels, which generate electric power, often only a small portion of the electricity needed.

Patel says while he could not afford solar electric, the solar thermal system was doable. In 16 months, he says, he's recouped his $35,000 investment.

"The customers notice no difference whatsoever," he says.

Source: Rajel Patel, owner Comfort Suites, Southgate
Writer: Kim North Shine

Across Macomb County, 101 schools have qualified as Michigan Green Schools by participating in projects that conserve energy, save landfill space, protect air and water and more.

The projects often come with the side benefit of exposing students to charity. In Warren, Carter Middle School's denim recycling project helps to clothe homeless people. The projects also expose students to life and potential career skills, such as the engineering of power-generating wind spires at the Macomb Math, Science, & Technology Center in Warren.

Those that achieved Green School status will be recognized at a countywide ceremony before the Macomb County Board of Commissioners on April 22, Earth Day.

"Just because they apply for it doesn't mean they necessarily get it," says Patti Dib, co-coordinator of the Macomb County Green Schools initiative. "They have to adhere to the criteria and provide documentation" of the goals that were achieved and the projects either completed or those to be executed.

This is the third year that Macomb County schools have participated in the project, with more schools joining in each year, says Dib.

Projects are big and small, from across the board energy conservation policies, electricity-saving motion-detecting lights, and kids wiping clean refrigerator coils for more efficient operation, to designing wind power experiments and the recycling of nearly 29 tons of phone books through AT&T's ReDirectory Challenge. Three schools shared $1,200 for collecting the most unwanted phone books.

The L'Anse Creuse district, for example, with 20 schools, has set a goal to cut energy consumption by 25 percent across the district, Dib says.

Some projects received grants and donations from DTE Energy and Waste Management.

This was the first year that Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties are working together on Green Schools certification so requirements, qualifications and meaningfulness are the same across county lines, Dib says.

"So many people cross the county lines every day," she says. "If you see an official green school over in Oakland or Wayne County you're going to know what they've done because we operate the same way."

In Oakland County, 185 schools are certified green. Wayne County has about just over 100, she says. The three counties make up 80 percent of all green schools in Michigan.

Source: Patti Dib, Green Schools Coordinator, Macomb County
Writer: Kim North Shine

In advance of Earth Day, the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber is hosting a legislative forum on April 11 to discuss the role of environmental sustainability in business.

The chamber's Greening Downriver Committee has organized the event and panelists including Dr. Soji Adelaja, director of the Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University; Trevor Lauer, vice-president of marketing and renewables at DTE Energy; and Julie Baldwin, manager of the Michigan Public Service Commission's Renewable Energy Section.

They will explain how going green can be good for business, government, academia and local communities as well as the environment. They will also discuss various policies, programs, and initiatives that can assist, financially and knowledge-wise, in sustainability projects.

"We want to try to encourage businesses to look into sustainability," says SWCRC President Saundra Mull.

"We've got a lot of businesses downriver that are doing a lot with sustainability," Mull says. "We think more businesses would like to learn how to do the same."

The legislative forum is just one event focusing on how green practices can boost the bottom line. The SWCRC, which has an ongoing Green Leaders program to recognize businesses that consider the environment in day-to-day operations, is devoting all of its April events to the topic.

The legislative forum will be held from 11-1 on April 11 at Crystal Gardens, 16703 Fort St., Southgate. To register call 734-284-6000.

Source Sandy Mull, president, Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber
Writer: Kim North Shine

Ford and DTE Energy have teamed up to build the primary part of Michigan's largest solar power generation system for DTE's power grid. The uses for the 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel installed at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne are two-fold.

For one, power from the new system will go into production of Ford's new Focus, Focus electric vehicle and other new-generation hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

And, the solar power generated from the panel will feed into a 750-watt kilowatt energy storage facility that can store 2 million watt-hours of energy using batteries, an amount that can provide power to about 100 Michigan homes a year.

While the panel will eventually save the automaker in energy costs, there are other benefits, says Scott Simons, DTE Energy spokesman.

"It benefits all of our customers and it makes us less reliant on bringing in energy from other sources," he says. "It's also good for the environment because we're turning to an alternative energy source. Instead or relying on fossil fuels, we are using renewable energy."

The project  is a collaboration between Ford, DTE Energy, Xtreme Power of Austin Texas, the city of Wayne, and the state of Michigan. The project was funded by $3 million from DTE Energy's SolarCurrents program, which, in part, calls for the installation of photovoltaic systems on customer rooftops or property over the next five years in order to generate 15 megawatts of electricity throughout southeast Michigan.

Another $2 million came from a grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission in support of its smart-grid program.

About $800,000 worth of in-kind contributions were provided by Ford, which will install 10 electric vehicle charging stations at Michigan Assembly. The stations will recharge the electric switcher trucks that transport vehicle parts at the site. Part of the project seeks to show that electric vehicle batteries can be reused for stationary power storage after they are no longer useful in vehicles.

The project serves as a pilot for solar systems at other Ford facilities, but this is not Ford's first foray into alternative energy.

"The Michigan Assembly Plant solar array builds on Ford's other renewable energy initiatives including geothermal energy in Ohio and wind energy in the U.K. and Belgium," Donna Inch, chairman and CEO of Ford Land, says in a statement.  "This is one more step in our journey toward sustainability."

Sources: Scott Simons, DTE Energy; Donna Inch, chairman and CEO of Ford Land
Writer: Kim North Shine

The playground at Steenland Elementary School in Roseville has some new equipment for all the children to see.

However, the two new pieces near where the students run and play  - a wind turbine and a solar pavilion  - are strictly for generating energy and learning, says fourth-grade teacher James Byrnes. In addition to the latest in power generators, the school, a 2-year-old building built to green standards, also has a new weather station on the rooftop. All of it possible through a grant from Energy Works Michigan.

The 2.4-kilowatt wind turbine, 2.4-kilowatt solar panel and weather station were unveiled last week during a ceremony, but the learning had already begun as Energy Works Michigan and its Renewable Schools program has trained teachers in an alternative energy curriculum.

While the turbine and solar panel will save Steenland about $100  a month in energy costs by generating some of its own power, the main purpose, Byrnes says, is to have amazing educational tools for the students, who are also being taught be teachers put through an alternative energy curriculum.

"The energy savings, that's just a little added benefit," he says. "I've always been interested in alternative energies and I've always wanted to do something like this. But I thought we'd have to spend our own dollars."

The school's immersion in alternative energy began with a $75,000-grant from Energy Works Michigan's Renewable Schools program, $9,000 of which was provided by Steenland due to matching requirements of the grant. Byrnes says the school PTO, local businesses and residents and the district. The Michigan Public Service Commission provides the grant dollars.

"It's really great how the community came together on this," he says.

Steenland is one of dozens of projects at schools around Michigan and one of the few that have both wind and solar power generators. It is the first in Macomb County.

Energy Works Michigan is in the process of accepting applications for a new round of Renewable Schools grants worth $4.4 million.

Source: James Byrnes, fourth-grade teacher Steenland Elmentary School and Kelly Weger, project coordinator Michigan Energy Works
Writer: Kim North Shine

Oakland County's environmentally-minded, regional approach to identifying and protecting its natural resources has earned it the love of the Conservation Fund, which is declaring Oakland a leader in protecting land, water, and other natural resources.

The Conservation Fund's National Green Infrastructure Implementation Award will be handed out to Oakland County officials Feb. 24th during the three-day National Green Infrastructure Conference in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Officials from Arkansas and Maryland were also named in the top three of green infrastructure planners in the nation. Read more here about the awards.

Green infrastructure is a strategically planned and managed network of natural areas and open spaces, according to the Conservation Fund. It says that planning for those open spaces -- woodlands, wetlands, trails and parks -- conserves ecosystems, protects the air and water and benefits people and wildlife.

The award specifically recognizes Oakland County's Green Infrastructure Vision, which involved every community across the 900-square-mile county in a project to map out land, water, green space, trails and such -- all environmental resources -- and show how they connect.

The map, both printed and online, is part marketing tool in that it explains the richness of natural resources, and part development tool that helps local governments and private parties identify conservation areas as they look to develop or seek grants for environmental preservation or building efforts, says Bret Rasegan, planning supervisor in Oakland County's Office of Planning and Economic Development.

"I think what it really does is validate for us using that local knowledge of the communities to build a much larger vision," says Rasegan. "We could not have done it sitting in the office…That local knowledge was indispensable to piecing this thing together."

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson also spoke to the validation of hard work completed by many, many people.

"Preserving green space adds to the quality of life of our residents, but it is one facet of a larger green initiative. We also are attracting alternative energy companies to provide green jobs; identifying and incorporating energy conserving devices and strategies here on our government campus; and we are building the nation's first green airport terminal," Patterson says in a statement announcing the award.

The Green Initiative had already won accolades from the National Association of Counties, and, as Patterson says, is one of several eco-conscious programs implemented in Oakland County.

They include Oakland County Airport, the first green airport terminal in the country. Renovations at the airport are expected to be completed this summer and incorporate wind and solar power and geothermal energy as energy savers.

The county has also formed a Green Team to find energy savings at county government facilities, saving $4 million since 2005. In addition, the county issued an OakGreen challenge, asking residents, businesses and governments to decrease energy consumption by 10 percent by 2012. The county's goal for itself is 15 percent by 2015. In addition, it is instituting programs to foster the growth of alternative energy companies.

The Conservation Fund board that chose the winners looked for places that had set conservation goals and achieved them.

"These three projects stood out not only because they were able to accomplish real, on-the-ground solutions to their conservation priorities, but also because they are ahead of the national trend in which more and more communities are turning to green infrastructure planning to effectively address natural resource use," Kris Hoellen, director of The Conservation Fund's Conservation Leadership Network, says in a statement.

Sources: Bret Rasegan, planning supervisor in Oakland County's Office of Planning and Economic Development and Bill Mullan, Oakland County Director of Communications
Writer: Kim North Shine