DTE Energy Rewards OU For Efficient Design Of Human Health Building
ROCHESTER -- In recognition of energy-efficient building design incorporated into the Human Health Building completed this fall on the campus of Oakland University, DTE Energy recently provided the university with a rebate check totaling nearly $131,000.
The reimbursement comes as part of DTE Energy's New Construction Energy Efficiency Program for Business, which lauded the HHB's integrated system approach to incorporating energy efficiency.
Plans included a full geothermal heat pump system coupled with a variable refrigerant flow heat pump system, installation of dedicated outdoor air units utilizing heat recovery, and a desiccant humidification system activated by a solar array.
It is anticipated that the HHB will realize annual energy savings of more than 50 percent over a conventional building of its size and design.
This rebate certainly is testimony that Oakland University is doing its part to reduce energy consumption in Michigan and to help Michigan's environment," said Terry Stollsteimer, Oakland's associate vice president for facilities management.
He complimented the mechanical and energy teams of the Detroit-based architecture firm SmithGroup JJR and of Oakland University for outstanding work that helped achieve the university's energy efficiency goals for the HHB.
"These systems came about by people thinking outside the box, having the drive to ensure that cutting-edge technology will work, and being dedicated to completion," Stollsteimer said.
Hope Allen, DTE Energy's principal program advisor for the Energy Efficiency Program for Business, also praised the project.
"The HHB is a great example of a customer installing energy efficiency equipment and being paid to save on their utility bills," she said.
The HHB, now in use as an academic building and home of OU's School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences, is a 172,000-square foot, $64.4 million structure that features classrooms, seminar rooms, an interactive media center, physical therapy clinics and clinical, computer, simulation and distance learning labs.
DTE Energy is a diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its largest operating subsidiaries are Detroit Edison and MichCon. Together, these regulated utility companies provide electric and/or gas services to more than three million residential, business and industrial customers throughout Michigan.
Oakland University is a doctoral, research-intensive university located in Oakland County. The university has 139 bachelor's degree programs and 127 graduate degree and certificate programs. Dedicated to delivering a distinctive undergraduate experience that is complemented by the strength of its graduate offerings and research accomplishments, Oakland University is organized into the College of Arts and Sciences, the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and the Schools of Business Administration, Education and Human Services, Engineering and Computer Science, Health Sciences, Nursing and The Honors College. Visit Oakland University on the Web at www.oakland.edu.
