Programs & Initiatives
The Grand Rapids 2030 District
The Grand Rapids 2030 District is a strategic initiative of USGBC West Michigan. The program is a public-private partnership committed to creating high-performance buildings and smart mobility options that:
- Drawdown carbon in Grand Rapids' built environment
- Increase marketability and profitability for property owners
- Strengthen the greater community's vibrancy
Michigan Battle of the Buildings
Michigan Battle of the Buildings is an awards and recognition program for energy use reduction open to all Michigan area commercial, industrial & multi-family buildings. The program is a way to encourage energy-efficient practices in buildings across the state. In turn, this instills the spirit of competition among the area's building owners and operators. This is a free program and registration is open all-year-round. Learn more at michiganbattleofthebuildings.org
E.H.Zero Initiative
The U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan, the City of Grand Rapids, and the Urban Core Collective partner in the Grand Rapids Building Policies and Programs for Equitable, Healthy & Zero Carbon Buildings (E.H.Zero). The E.H.Zero Project takes the information, relationships, and resources developed during the Zero Cities Project and transform them into equity focused policies that are co-created by the community and presented to the City Commission for approval. This is a free program and registration is open all-year-round. Learn more on our E.H.Zero website page here.
Energy Assistance Program
The Energy Assistance Program is a USGBC West Michigan program that helps businesses and organizations in the community by connecting them to low to no-cost energy audits conducted by a team of experts. As a result, this helps lower energy bills, find resources to maximize energy savings, and allows building owners to better understand their buildings.
Drawdown Michigan
USGBC West Michigan organized the first-ever Rise Up & Drawdown Michigan. Consequently bringing together 43 local, statewide, and national organizations to produce a conference on climate change solutions. The full-day conference focused on community, collaboration, solutions, and actions. To keep the momentum going of this wonderful day, we will continue our mission to drawdown carbon through the Drawdown Michigan initiative via education and community.
Green Schools
Green Schools is a program of USGBC West Michigan that works together with the community to engage students, teachers, and parents in service-learning projects across West Michigan. Our goal is to help create healthy and sustainable learning environments for future generations, specifically. Because of this, in 2019 we rolled out a robust auditing project with the help of experienced green building professionals as mentors. These mentors are committed to guiding students through the audit process and learning key sustainability metrics such as return on investment and net present value.