LEED Certified Renovation

Transformation of IHM and Partners

Welcome to the Green Room

Showing the Story

Open Houses, Tours, Conferences

October 2005

April 2007

St. Mary Organic Farm

Campus Greening CommitteeHow to Live Green in Renovated Motherhouse

Campus Greening Initiatives

Automotive

Food Service

Grounds

Housekeeping

Information Systems

Medical Supplies

Office Supplies

Waste Management

St. Elizabeth's Story

Story of working class parish in an inner ring suburb of Detroit

Energy Efficient Measures

Put in energy efficient lights [T-8, Compact Fluorescent lights, LED exit lights, CFL floods in Church]

Put in T-5 lights in office

LED chandelier lights

Church – Lighting

Replaced 40 120 watt incandescent lights with Par 38 19 watt lights with 1.5 inch extenders

Result in 50% more lumens and 4 kilowatt differential when lights are turned on

Window Treatment Program

Put solar net and low-E glass on Church window.

Solar net reduced solar glare by 93%

3X more efficient than if we had replaced windows at $15,000 less cost

Use of dead air space as well.

Replaced windows in the Rectory.

Heating and Cooling

Put in New Boiler in 1997 for $50,000. Saves us $7,000/year. It has now paid for itself.

Put in new Air Conditioning System in the Church.

Put in insulation in the Rectory attic

Replaced boiler in Rectory with Munchkin Boiler – rated at 93% efficiency

Zoned out School with Johnson Controls

Programmable Thermostat and Good Boiler Maintenance

Put in Programmable Thermostat in Church

As maintenance, replaced aging steam traps in boiler ;reduced pressure from 8 lbs to 2.5 lbs

Reduced energy 11% in 11 months – took 29,000 lbs of CO2 out of atmosphere

Results

Reduced peak energy demand by 60% in five years [1997-2002]

As a result ,Wyandotte Municipal Utility reduced their demand charge by $300/month

Energy Efficient measures financed mechanism for on-site solar

Solar Power

Installed solar attic fan

Put in solar collector [solar/thermal] to heat hot water in the rectory

Solar Hot Water Exchange

Anti-freeze is circulated by PV; no fossil fuel in operation

Water pre-heated in exchanger and stored in one tank

Original tank draws water as needed

Solar Attic Fan – Cheap Solar

Cost $400 dollars or less

2-3 year payback

Needs no other incentive

Reduces heat in summer and moisture in winter

Solar Electric

1.12 kilowatts of solar panels

400 watt wind turbine

Michigan has wind in the winter and little sun

In summer much sun and little wind

Solar Electric

Storage

Michigan had no net metering law with original installation so we installed a “Stand Alone” system.

Sixteen AGM batteries store the electricity

Inverter Changes DC into AC Power

Fruits of Energy Independence

Save $30,000/year in energy costs

Renewable energy is quiet

Seven circuits are running off of the grid –power for most of the first floor including office, living room, hall, bedroom and lights throughout the basement

Had power during the blackout – television, computer, lights, etc.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100,000 lbs./year

Grounds and Water

Organic Lawn – no fertilizer used

Ground pump to use ground water in spring in lieu of city water to water organic garden.

Rain barrel used to irrigate organic garden

St. Elizabeth’s cemetery [Mt. Carmel Cemetery] is first Catholic cemetery in U.S. to be certified by the Green Burial Council.

Grounds and Water

Put in handles to stop 24/7 water flow in school urinals [too embedded in concrete for waterless urinals]

Put in aerators in all the sinks

Low flow shower heads

Dual flush toilet

Conserva-top in older toilets

Classes in Sustainable Living

Non toxic cleaning

Fermenting food

Raw food

Root cellar

Eating as moral act with celebration

Juicing

Movies and forums on peak oil, climate, water issues, etc.