2018 Showcase Building Tours | Better Buildings Initiative

As part of the 2018 Summit, Better Buildings partners and other Cleveland-area properties hosted Showcase Building Tours. Organizations opened up their buildings and shared energy savings insights with Better Buildings Summit and Energy Exchange attendees. Tour hosts highlighted the energy and water efficiency measures and actions that have helped them achieve their energy reduction goals and save money.

Scroll down to see recaps and photos from the 2018 Building Tours!

Commercial Sector

Cleveland Clinic Tomsich Pathology Laboratories

This tour was led by Vladimir Novakovic and his team with Perspectus Architecture, who designed the facility, as well as Jon Utech, the Senior Director in the Office for a Healthy Environment at Cleveland Clinic, a Better Buildings partner. The LEED Gold certified lab offers state-of-the-art diagnostic services in microbiology, special chemistry, immunopathology, and molecular pathology, as well as expert diagnosis to patients institutionally, regionally, and nationally. Attendees learned about a variety of energy efficiency features in the facility's design, such as maximizing daylighting and daylighting controls, LED installation, advanced and responsive high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, water resiliency, and a combination of solar and vegetative roofing. Cleveland Clinic is committed to retro-commissioning the building to ensure its systems operate as designed over time. A systems manual articulates the intent of each system, the sequence of operations, and any critical modifications made.

Photos (left to right): An inside look at the Laboratory; the Mechanical Room; the Skylight and Vegetative Roofing; the Tour Group discusses Daylighting in the Main Lobby

Inside look at the Tomsich Laboratory Tomsich Mechanical Room Tomsich Skylight and Vegetative Roofing Tomsich Building Tour Group in the Main Lobby

Forest City - Key Tower

Better Buildings partner Forest City Realty Trust hosted a group of Better Buildings Summit attendees at their recently-relocated corporate headquarters, the Key Tower. The tour was led by Director of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Jill Ziegler, Director of Sustainable Operations Don Beck, and VP of Design and Sustainable Development Joyce Mihalik. Occupied since March 2018, the new HQ occupies 7 floors, designed to be reflective of the company’s values and business. It was a significant cultural adjustment, as the previous HQ was a building from the 1930s with systems from the 1990s. Attendees received a presentation on the integrative design process behind the new offices. It has a variety of common and small group spaces and an array of smart technologies. Forest City HQ was part of the ENERGY STAR for Tenant Spaces pilot program, and were the first to be certified. Forest City is pursuing LEED certification for the space as well. Energy efficiency features and practices include daylighting, lighting controls, LEDs, plug load management, and a new submetering system on top of the existing Building Automation System. Tour attendees also learned about the variety of health and wellness features including standard sit-stand desks, noise dampening materials, and regulated air-flow.

Photos (left to right): Key Tower is the tallest building in Ohio; View from the Forest City conference room featuring Browns stadium, Lake Erie, the Huntington Convention Center, Cleveland City Hall, Great Lakes Science Center, and the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame; an example of a Common Space in Forest City HQ; Jill Ziegler presents Forest City's Sustainability Goals for their new space; Don Beck answers questions from the Tour Group

View from the Forest City Conference Room showing Browns Stadium, Lake Erie, Huntington Convention Center, City Hall, Great Lakes Science Center, and Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Example of a Common Space in Forest City HQ

Don Beck answers questions from the Tour Group

Great Lakes Brewing Company

Located 2 miles from the shores of Lake Erie, Great Lakes Brewing Company, founded in 1988 by Patrick and Daniel Conway, has evolved from a fledgling operation to a cornerstone in the Ohio City neighborhood that the brewery helped revitalize. A group of Summit attendees toured the brewery and restaurant, which includes a radiant heat floor, straw bale wall, and other green building techniques. After walking through the green projects in the pub, attendees got to walk through the brewery to understand energy and water conservation practices, including the brewery’s 20.15 kW solar PV array that produced enough electricity in its first year to account for the production of 14,470 cases of beer! Water stewardship is important to GLBC due to its proximity to Lake Erie and the fact that its product is made from 90% water, so they emphasize water conservation in the bottling and cleaning processes. To learn more about Great Lakes Brewing Company’s commitment to sustainability, view their Sustainability Report here.

Photos (left to right): Exterior View of Great Lakes Brewery; Tables in the Brewpub are made from repurposed wood stamped with the address of the source building; the Straw Bale Wall is one of the unique features of the Brewpub; Electricity usage for the beer-making process is supported in part by a 20 kW solar PV array on the roof

Exterior view of Great Lakes Brewery Tables of repurposed wood in the brewpub Straw bale wall inside in the brewpub Tour group inside the brewery learning about the solar array

Metropolitan at The 9

As part of a 2012 redevelopment of 3 city blocks, 3 historic buildings were renovated into a mixed-use complex that includes a hotel, apartments, retail, theatre, dining spaces, as well as the newly-constructed county government headquarters. A group of Better Buildings Summit attendees received a private tour of the luxurious, Marcel Breuer-designed high-rise office that was a part of this redevelopment. To preserve the historic character of the site, the owners implemented an interesting mechanical solution using the design of the original concrete façade panels. Totaling 650,000 square feet, the 3 buildings are all connected both above and below ground. Tour attendees learned how the complex utilizes an onsite steam turbine for hot water tanks, saw various hotel and apartment units which are heated by a closed water source heat pump system, and got a behind-the-scenes look at the LEED Gold certified county government headquarters, for which 88% of construction material used was recycled. It also features an 8,000-square-foot green roof.

Photos (left to right): Main entrance to the 9 featuring a variety of LED lights in a decorative fixture; Heinen's Grocery Store in the historic Cleveland Trust Building with an 84-foot central rotunda; view of Cleveland from the upper floors; entrance to The Vault (a lounge/bar on the upper levels); hotel banquet facility with vaulted ceilings and lighting fixtures

Main entrance to Metropolitan at the 9 84 foot high central rotunda in the historic Cleveland Trust Building (part of the Metropolitan at the 9 complex) View of Cleveland from the upper floors of the building, with Terminal Tower visible to the right Entrance to the Vault, the bar/lounge on the upper level Basement banquet facilities with vaulted ceilings and lighting

Public/Multifamily Sector

Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority

Summit attendees got the chance to explore a variety of different showcased sites from Better Buildings partner Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), each demonstrating CMHA’s sustainability mission and how strategic investment and partnerships can enhance community efforts. Hosted by Tina Brake, Larry Davis, and “Green Team” members from CMHA, the tour included the LEED certified CMHA campus building. The campus has a solar farm with 4,212 solar panels that was installed on a 6-acre brownfield parcel in 2012; it produces about 1MW annually. The group saw CMHA’s Urban Agriculture/Employee Gardening Program “hoop houses,” which are portable greenhouses that support produce programs for their residents and staff. The tour continued to the Heritage View Homes. Residential units on this property feature energy-efficient lighting, envelope sealing, and permeable pavement; 26 of the homes have rooftop solar panels.

Photos (left to right): CMHA employee Larry Davis shows off the 1MW solar field on the main campus; Tour attendees learn about CMHA's hoop houses, which host their urban agriculture workforce development initiatives; Heritage View Homes, a community of multifamily and single family homes with green features

Public Sector

Northeast Re-Integration Center, Correctional Facility

The Northeast Reintegration Center (NERC) is one of 25 facilities operated by the State of Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The women’s correctional facility houses nearly 600 inmates for a rehabilitation program to facilitate successful reentry into the community. NERC is also committed to reducing the impact of the facility on its community through conservation and recycling programs. NERC spends more than $640,000 annually, with electricity and water constituting almost 90% of the facility’s utility costs. Multiple energy and water efficiency measures are planned as part of an energy savings performance contract. These measures will improve occupant comfort, reduce maintenance, and save taxpayers money; they include:

LED lighting fixture conversion and controls
Boilers, hot water pumps, variable frequency drives, and controls
Domestic hot water heaters
Real-time energy metering and sub-metering
Low-flow water fixture replacements
Upgrades to building automation system.

Ohio’s correctional institutions are participating in a statewide competition to reduce electricity, gas, and water consumption along with waste. Each month focuses on a specific measure like laundry/shower schedules or weatherization to identify additional opportunities for improvement and include both staff and inmates in the efforts. More information on NERC can be found here: http://drc.ohio.gov/nerc.

GSA Building - Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse

The Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse opened in 1910 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. Tour attendees were treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the robust energy efficiency projects that have been implemented throughout the facility. The 227,221-square-foot, 5-story building became LEED-EBOM certified in 2013 and has an ENERGY STAR score of 91. In 2014 GSA entered into an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) for the courthouse. The group observed and learned about the various projects the ESPC paid for, like a multi-stack chiller, gas-fired heating water plants, boiler, lighting control system, and HVAC system upgrades, and LED retrofits. The building operators had a variety of considerations when implementing these upgrades such as Judge preferences, security, and maintaining the historic look and feel of the property. Additionally, the courthouse also has a robust single stream recycling program; the 2018 YTD waste diversion rate is 63%.

Photos (left to right): The group gets a tour of the lobby and courtyard of the Courthouse; photos were not allowed outside of the public spaces.

Courthouse lobby tour group in lobby of courthouse

Lakewood Waste Water Treatment Plant

Attendees saw the “before and after” of wastewater energy efficiency improvements and received an advanced look at Lakewood, Ohio’s plan for the future. Lakewood, the most densely-populated community in Ohio, is making tremendous investments in its waste water treatment facility over the next 5-10 years, including significant updates to their process equipment and a digester improvement project totaling $7 million. Mayor of Lakewood Mike Summers led a walking tour of the facility. He highlighted many operating and planned improvements for the near-term such as increased power production from the facility, high-efficiency aeration blowers, lighting improvements, and the addition of a methane-powered generator. The tour also included a stop at their new landscape amenity in Lakewood Park called the Solstice Steps, which were built on top of a landfill and overlook Lake Erie to the north and northwest. More information on the Solstice Steps can be found here.

Photos (left to right): An up-close look at the Lakewood Waste Water Treatment Plant; Lakewood Mayor Mike Summers discusses plans for the future; View of Lake Erie from the Solstice Steps - a Lakewood park that was built on a landfill

Up-close look at Lakewood Wastewater Treatment Plant Lakewood Mayor Mike Summers talks about the city's future projects View of Lake Erie from Solstice Steps, a park built on a landfill

Industrial Sector

ArcelorMittal Cleveland

Energy Management representatives from Better Plants partners and DOE officials received a tour of the hot-dip galvanizing line, casting plant, and rolling lines at ArcelorMittal's Cleveland steel plant. As part of the Better Plants Program, ArcelorMittal Cleveland became the first integrated steel mill in the country to be recognized by DOE as ISO 50001 Ready, an achievement recognized at the beginning of the tour by AMO Director Dr. Rob Ivester. The facility covers more than 950 acres and the plant’s buildings total 7 million square feet. The plant operates 2 blast furnaces which feed the 2 steelmaking facilities. Products made at this location are hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and hot-dipped galvanized sheet and semi-finished (slabs). The tour focused on the finishing operations as well as cross-cutting systems in the mill such as lighting, compressed air, ventilation fans, process heating, and pumping upgrades.

Photos (left to right): Exterior view of the blast furnaces; Casting and rolling of hot steel slabs; Ladle pouring molten steel in the tundish to roll hot slabs; Hot slabs lifted to be placed on the railcar to move to the hot strip mill

Exterior view of blast furnaces Casting and rolling hot steel slabs

Ladle pouring molten steel in the tundish to roll hot slabs Hot slabs lifted to be placed on the railcar to move to the hot strip mill

Ford Motor Company - Cleveland Engine

Better Buildings Industrial partners received a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ford Motor Company’s Cleveland Engine Plant, a 365-acre site that was built in Brook Park in 1951. The plant was the center of production for Ford’s first overhead valve engine, the Lincoln V8. Engines from this plant have been used in cars from the Edsel to the Mustang, and in trucks like the F-100 and the F-150. The plant has produced over 34 million engines in its lifetime. After a $350 million investment in 2009, Ford overhauled the plant. The 1.6 million-square-foot plant employs 1,570 people building the Eco Boost and Duratech engines. The tour focused on the engine machining, assembly lines, and compressed air systems serving them. Ford is a Better Plants Challenge partner with both energy and water goals. More details about the site, including historical photos, can be found here.

PPG Automotive Coatings Plant

A group of Summit attendees received a tour of Better Plants partner PPG’s Cleveland plant, which is the company’s largest manufacturing and technical center for automotive coatings in North America. The plant has more than 500 employees and is situated on a 42-acre site in the city’s West Park area. PPG purchased the facility in 1947 from Forbes Varnish Company, which began operations there in 1907. The plant produces a full spectrum of coatings products for automotive original equipment manufacturers. Attendees were given a safety briefing and presentation on the plant systems and energy efficiency accomplishments before beginning the tour. The Cleveland plant has had a variety of implemented energy efficiency projects including compressed air, steam and process heating system optimization efforts, as well as lighting upgrades. Some of the primary technologies showcased throughout the tour were the plant’s Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO), advanced Human Machine Interfaces (HMI), and various material handling and production processes which were all controlled with cutting-edge HMIs that are connected to a central control center.