Learn Home Energy Saving Opportunities from Architect Michael Klement

Washtenaw Community College
"Creating an Energy Efficient Home from A to Z- Existing, Remodel, Addition or New"
Presentation By Ann Arbor Architect Michael Klement, AIA

Thursday, March 6, 6:00 p.m.

Towsley Auditorium, Morris Lawrence Building

Presentation is Part of WCC Sustainability Literacy Task Force [SLTF]

Year Of Energy Celebration

The presentation is free and open to the public

WHAT:  Ann Arbor architect Michael Klement, AIA, will teach attendees how to begin to systematically put together a plan to realize a variety of home energy saving opportunities. The presentation will be delivered in an easy-to-understand manner and will address a broad range of strategies to make a home more energy efficient, healthy and sustainable. The talk will begin with the basic principles and work up the energy savings ladder, moving from the most modest of energy savings all the way up to Net Zero and Passive House.   A Net Zero home is one that, over the course of a year, makes as much energy as it uses. A Passive House is so energy efficient that it doesn’t need a furnace. The talk will help attendees understand how to realize energy savings at whatever level fits into their budget. 

Following the talk, Klement will be joined by leading local residential energy specialists who will lend their expertise and answer questions. 

"As we leave the era of presumed unlimited resources and move into the era of peak everything, nothing (except perhaps water) drives deeper to the very fabric of our every day existence and reality as does energy,” said Klement. “All that we have come to understand as our comfortable and convenient 'world' is wrapped around a foundation of cheap, abundant, highly accessible energy. That is changing.  We are faced with a looming responsibility, a challenge, and indeed an opportunity to rethink our relationship with energy." 

The presentation is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

WHO: Presenter Michael Klement is a member of the American Institute of Architects, The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, The American Institute of Building Design, is a Certified Professional Building Designer through the National Council of Building Designers. He is the principal of Architectural Resource, an award-winning architectural firm specializing in sustainable design based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The question and answer session following the talk will include leading local residential specialists in energy diagnostics, conservation, performance and harvesting: 

• David Eifrid of Greenlife Building
• Kevin McNeely of McNeely Building Group, LLC
• Christina Snyder of Energy Equilibrium Spaces
• John Wakeman of SUR Energy.

[Full bios are below.]

For more information - e-mail Dale Petty at petty@wccnet.edu.

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, March 6 starting at 6 p.m. at the Towsley Auditorium in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E. Huron Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48105.

Sustainability Literacy Task Force [SLTF]

The Sustainability Literacy Task Force is a multi-disciplinary committee of WCC instructors whose passion is to educate people about the benefits of sustainability and using the planet’s resources wisely.

Members include Dale Petty [Industrial Technology], Emily Thompson Ph.D. [Biology], Maryam Barrie [English], and Chef Alice Gannon-Boss [Culinary Arts].

For more information about upcoming SLTF workshops and events – visit

http://sustainable.wccnet.edu/yearofenergyschedule.html.

[Editor’s note: Members of the SLTF committee and WCC faculty members Dale Petty [Industrial Technology] or Dr. Emily Thompson [Biology] are available for interviews. Contact Susan Ferraro at snferraro@wccnet.edu or (734) 922-5568 to arrange an interview with Mr. Petty or Dr. Thompson.]

Washtenaw Community College (WCC) has made education accessible and affordable for the local community for 48 years. Located in Ann Arbor, MI, the College offers over 120 degrees and certificates, an open door admission policy and affordable tuition rates. WCC is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, the regional accrediting organization recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Full bios of panel:

Michael Klement, AIA

Architectural Resource, LLC

Michael is a member of the American Institute of Architects, The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, The American Institute of Building Design, is a Certified Professional Building Designer through the National Council of Building Designers, and holds Certified Aging in Place Specialist and Certified Green Professional designations through the NAHB as well as NARI.  Michael and his firm were the architects of the first USGBC LEED for Homes Platinum level certified whole-house remodel in the Midwest; only the fifth in the entire nation.  This represents the highest level of Green certification attainable through the LEED program.  Architectural Resource is also responsible for Michigan's second and third LEED Platinum certified remodels.  Michael is presently working on several other Green projects including the state's first registered Living Building Challenge® residence seeking full certification.  Michael was honored by the 2013 Detroit Free Press Green Leader program in both the individual and green building practices categories.

David Eifrid

Greenlife Building, LLC

David Eifrid is the president and founder of Greenlife Building LLC.  He is a pioneer in sustainable residential and commercial building and consulting.  He has been involved in sustainable residential and commercial construction utilizing the USGBC’s LEED Certification, EPA Energy Star, BPI Certification, and EPA Lead-Safe Certification.  David also formed Greenlife Energy Services, an elite group of energy experts from around the nation who aim to increase energy efficiency and renewable power for government, education, and business facilities

Kevin McNeely

McNeely Building Group, LLC

Kevin is an expert in resource management and resource use reduction strategies for industrial facilities and industrial operations; institutional, commercial, industrial and residential building owners, managers and occupants.

He currently maintains multiple certifications through Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and is a certified ResNET HERS Rater and Building Performance Institute certified Building Analyst Professional. Kevin currently serves on the US Green Building Council – Detroit Regional Chapters LEED for Homes Committee and LEED for Neighborhood Development Committee.

Christina Snyder

Equilibrium Energy Spaces 

Christina Snyder of Equilibrium Energy Spaces is a registered architect, licensed residential builder, and Michigan's first Certified Passive House Consultant. Whether new or retrofit projects, the Passive House Standard (www.passivehouse.us) is the perfect starting point for achieving net zero or positive energy buildings, for it is the most efficient building envelope standard in the world.

John Wakeman

SUR Energy

John Wakeman, owner of SUR Energy, LLC of Ann Arbor has enjoyed a long and distinguished history as one of Michigan’s pioneering renewable energy experts. For twelve years Mr. Wakeman has been successfully designing and installing solar electric systems. John was the first solar electric installer in Michigan to achieve “NABCEP” designation and become a qualified member of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.