PMA Consultants plan to build the greenest building in Ann Arbor without spending anymore green on the project that they would for a conventional project of similar size.
The Ann Arbor-based consulting firm plans to break ground on the $9.6-million project on March 2008 and finish within a year. The 8-story, mixed-use building has about 30,000 square feet of office, residential and retail space at the corner of West Washington and Ashley streets. It has received about $2.4 million in a variety of state and local grants and tax breaks.
But what makes this building so special? Environmental friendliness. So much so PMA plans to use it as a demonstration project of what they can do for their clients. The building will use 65% less energy than a conventional building in Michigan. Most of that savings, about 35 percent, will come from passive design techniques, such as allowing the building to be warmed sun during the cold months and cooled by passing breezes in hot months.
It will also employ green features, such as green roofs and wind turbines on top of the building that will look like smoke stacks. PMA expects to get 10 percent of its energy from such renewable sources. It also plans to capture and use all of its storm water runoff while reducing it demand for potable water by 50 percent compared to normal, similar structures.
The developer expects to complete the building without spending any more money than it would cost to build a similar building without the green features.
Tierra Place will feature retail space on the first two floors for a small-nice grocery store and café, similar to Whole Foods. Office space will be reserved for the third, fourth and fifth floors for PMA. Six luxury condos will be built on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors. A roof pavilion will be built for both residents and office tenants. An underground parking garage will provide seven spaces, while bike racks will be built in both the garage and the street sidewalks.
Source: Dax Ponce de Leon, development manager for PMA Consultants and Luke Redman, MBA Intern for PMA Consultants
Writer: Jon Zemke
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