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June 15, 2023

8:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Zero Net Energy Center at 1358 Abbott Street in Detroit, Michigan

Join us for the second annual Detroit Energy Challenge Awards Breakfast while we honor Detroit building owners and managers for reducing energy consumption in their building(s).

Come enjoy a hot breakfast and network with our competitors, business, and industry professionals. Enjoy visiting the trade show tables and listening to our special guest speakers - to be announced soon. Space is limited, so get your tickets early!

Detroit Energy Challenge is an extension of the Michigan Battle of the Buildings in partnership with Detroit 2030 District and the City of Detroit. With visionary sponsorship by DTE, the program awards local Detroit commercial, industrial and multi-family buildings for energy-efficient practices. Detroit area buildings enrolled in the Michigan Battle of the Buildings are automatically considered for local and state-wide recognition. There is no cost to enter the annual competition.

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Jack Akinlosotu

Featuring Keynote Speaker:

Jack Akinlosotu

Director of the Office of Sustainability
for the City of Detroit

Jack Akinlosotu brings 10 years of experience in providing policy, business, and program developments across U.S. cities on climate action planning in the public and private sectors. Before coming to Detroit, Akinlosotu worked on the development of multifaceted sustainability policy and programming in Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. Since 2021, he served as the senior product manager at Oracle Energy & Water, where he led partnership outreach and software development of the limited income solution that is meant to help people connect with programs to help lower their utility bills. Prior to that, he worked as the energy program specialist at the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) to coordinate multiple renewable energy projects, including community accessibility to solar power, electric vehicles, and green financing.

Thank you to this year's Detroit Energy Challenge
Awards Breakfast Sponsors:

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last year's

biggest losers!

1_Beach Club

Shelbourne Development

Beach Club Detroit
1st Place Biggest Loser
59.63% Reduction

In 2019, the Beach Club Detroit rebranded from River Terrace Apartments and the redevelopment prioritized energy efficiency and sustainability. This began with a conversion of the 90-year-old steam heating system to an advanced geothermal-heat pump system. Additional improvements included LED lights, nest thermostats to optimize heating and cooling in each of the 177 units, a cool roof rated system, and a specifically designed field in the front of the complex that consists of 150 energy efficient wells that draws groundwater. As their name suggests, a beach covers the groundwater well system, providing a beautiful community area tenants can enjoy on the Detroit River, looking out at Belle Isle.

2_Fifth Third Bank

Fifth Third Bank

8 Mile & Livernois
2nd Place Biggest Loser
21% Reduction

 This Fifth Third Bank location is one of many that are efficiency driven. The bank completed an exterior LED lighting upgrade, which included replacing lighting controllers that were not working properly. 

3_Bedrock

Bedrock

Detroit Media Partnership
3rd Place Biggest Loser
20.78% Reduction

Like many shared spaces and office buildings, the building automation system was no longer optimized for the intended use of the space. The building completed DTE’s Retrocommissioning Program, which involves a process used to tune-up existing equipment for more efficient performance rather than replacing it. The building saw savings of over 12% annually on electric consumption, the simple payback period was 2.3 months, and the annual energy cost savings were estimated at 5.7%. 

HM1_Huntington Place

Huntington Place

Honorable Mention
20.54% Reduction

The 2.4 million-square-foot space is a place where people gather, a place for the community- with that in mind, when COVID-19 hit, they became a hospital, a food bank, a vaccination and testing center, and a center for the homeless with medical services, laundry services, meals, and shower services, and on the coldest days, a shelter. The building adapted and strategically picked where to put each entity so that they would be in the safest and most energy efficient spot. They adapted for air flow and negative air in the spaces that were not directly in use, and built a decontamination area for masks. They held their vaccination center in the garage, where they pumped 13 million BTUs of heat. They also practiced smarter temperature regulation-controlling temperatures in the building based on the season to use less energy, and conditioned the specific spaces being used, using energy to make those spaces comfortable and saving energy in the connecting spaces. In the same realm of smart energy usage, they emphasized the use of natural light or “daylight harvesting” more and used electricity when absolutely necessary,

HM2_Comerica

Comerica Bank

CBRE
Honorable Mention
16.36% Reduction

Comerica Incorporated partnered with CBRE to reduce the environmental impact of Comerica’s facilities and operations. The team works closely toward a common goal of reducing emissions, water, waste and paper consumption. The biggest savings have resulted from the installation and use of a Building Management System to better control the heating and cooling needs, as well as routine updates. Comerica has set goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, and waste sent to landfills.

For more information and to learn about the Michigan Battle of the Buildings and Detroit Energy Challenge explore our additional website pages by following the buttons below.

If you have any questions you can reach us at admin@usgbcwm.org or 616-691-1243