Grand Rapids’ green building boom, alternative energy initiatives and sustainability mindset have attracted the attention of civic and government leaders statewide.
According to excerpts from the story:
When Mayor George Heartwell looks out his office window, he sees an unusual sight in Michigan: a skyline full of construction cranes. The city is experiencing a building boom, and it's green. Four of the five giant new projects rising downtown are green-built. Churchy, conservative Grand Rapids has become a visionary environmental role model and arguably Michigan's greenest city.
This rustbelt town is dotted with living green roofs and rainwater cisterns, solar panels and geothermal systems. A slick new art museum, giant YMCA and new ballet theater are all green. The city has hybrid buses and energy-saving LED bulbs in traffic lights. Heartwell plans to bring back streetcars and put up wind turbines on the city's bridges.
More than half the state's LEED-certified houses -- those built to demanding environmental standards -- are in Grand Rapids. And the city has 32 LEED-certified buildings, more per capita than any other city in the country, according to U.S. Green Building Council figures. Another 50 LEED buildings are in the pipeline.
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