Building Performance by Design expands into Metro Detroit

Green building is taking root so strongly in Detroit that even some out-state companies are moving in to take advantage of it. That's what Building Performance by Design is doing, now that it has opened a Metro Detroit office.

The firm, which is based in Kawkawlin, just north of Bay City, specializes in doing energy audits for residential, commercial, and industrial structures. It will now do even more from its new office in downtown Ypsilanti.

"We have been doing a number of homes in this area, and it's a long ways from Bay City," says Gary Kade, a consultant for Building Performance by Design's Ypsilanti office. "Plus, this is one of the most green-conscious areas of the state."

The company specializes in giving energy audits and also follows up on those audits. The point is to check up on a contractor's work to make sure it achieves the intended sustainability result.

There are two people working out of the Ypsilanti office, which is the Ann Arbor SPARK East incubator. Kade hopes to hire a few more and establish the firm's own storefront within the next year.

"We hope to expand as rapidly as the work permits," Kade says.

Source: Gary Kade, a consultant for Building Performance by Design's Ypsilanti office
Writer: Jon Zemke
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