company that developed Green Exchange. “We are creating a collaboration—a platform that allows individuals and businesses to ‘exchange their green ideas’ and learn from one another in a positive way.”
Photographs by SCOTT MCDONALD © Hedrich Blessing
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan Grand Rapids, Michigan, has one of the highest concentrations of ecofriendly and awarded buildings in the United States. In 2012 alone, a brewery, a college and an office building were added to the LEED list. According to Mayor George Heartwell, “Grand Rapids is known to have the highest number of LEED-certified projects per capita.” In 2008, fine art joined the green team in the form
of the Grand Rapids Art Museum. The 125,000square-foot museum, which occupies a full city block, was designed to be as beautiful on the outside as the works of art within. The new building of the Grand Rapids Art Museum was designed specifically with LEED Gold certification in mind. Making a museum ecofriendly is especially challenging because, unlike other structures, it has to maintain a specific temperature, 24 degrees Celsius and 50 percent humidity, in order to keep the delicate artworks in good shape. Museums expend energy maintaining that balance. According to Inhabitat.com, Grand Rapids Art Museum’s climate “is controlled by excellent insulation and building materials (20 percent of
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan
Left: The museum uses certified wood flooring. Top: The museum’s galleries, including Level III Galleries, have energy-saving skylights. Above: Natural light enters the museum’s Wege Pavilion through triple-layered glass and adjustable louvers.
http://www.artmuseumgr.org/building MAY/JUNE 2015
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