Briarwood's new entrances will have automatic doors, which can also help save energy by improving the building's temperature stability.
Courtesy photo
The new LED lighting coming as part of Briarwood Mall’s renovation is expected to save more than 320,000 kilowatt hours per year, enough to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of 28 single-family homes.
Briarwood renovation
The renovation of Briarwood Mall, which was expected to start Thursday and conclude by the end of October, will include the following:
- New signs and lighting
- New entrances with automatic entry doors
- Energy efficiency upgrades, including LED lighting
- Fresh paint and improved flooring
- Renovated restrooms and corridors
- Revamped children's play area in the Von Maur wing
- Additional seating in center court with Wi-Fi and lounge-style furniture
- Overhead architectural changes
Briarwood will be upgrading its interior and exterior lighting to the newer LED lights that use less electricity than traditional light bulbs. New automatic doors will also help to save energy by stabilizing temperatures inside, officials said.
The greener side of the renovation took center stage for local politicians who attended the renovation’s “tile breaking” ceremony on Tuesday.
“Ann Arbor is one of the leading cities in the national in energy efficiency, and it has been for a long time,” Mayor John Hieftje said.
“And that attitude permeates throughout our community. You see homes with solar panels going up and all kinds of energy initiatives taken by residents.”
Hieftje said that renewable energy initiatives are good, but there is a lot that can be done using available technologies to increase energy efficiency.
The energy efficiency bug has been spreading around Ann Arbor as more city projects and retail locations look to save energy to promote their brand and boost their bottom line.
Over the past two years, the Ann Arbor municipal center and car dealerships such as Dunning Toyota and LaFontaine Chevrolet in Dexter have all included LEED certification in their building plans.
“The best dollar to spend is on energy efficiency,” Hieftje said.
“It’s not until you have energy efficiency things in line that you even look at renewable energy The money we spend on energy efficiency at the city level actually saves our taxpayers money, so I know this will save Briarwood money over time.”
Nationally, major retailers including Wal-Mart have made sustainability and efficiency planks in their corporate platforms.
In 2009, a study from Retail Systems Research and the Retail Industry Leaders Association found that leading retailers were integrating eco-friendly policies. The study found that tying a brand to the “green” label was worth more in the long run than any short-term cost savings that might come from avoiding energy-saving initiatives. Economics, in addition to ethics, can be a major motivation for change.
Meijer put wind turbines on the roofs of two stores near Lake Michigan. A spokesman said the turbines do not produce much power yet, but are a step toward further green innovation.
Kristin Eberts | Muskegon Chronicle
“This renovation is going to create buzz and bring new people into the mall who will be coming to visit their stores. At the same time, their costs will go down because we all will be paying less with the new lighting systems.”
While some green initiatives save money, regional retail giant Meijer has taken a number of steps to making its company more green, including building all of new stores since 2007 up to LEED standards. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design. Projects that meet LEED standards get certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.)
However, some of the initiatives Meijer has undertaken are not paying monetary dividends.
“One thing we’ve done is put near-zero diesel emission technology on our entire truck fleet,” said spokesman Frank Guglielmi.
“It does have to make business sense; it can’t be cost prohibitive, but we’re willing to take the expense to do the right thing.”
For Murray, all of these issues combined to make the mall’s environmental initiative a no-brainer.
“In addition to helping the community, the savings from not using so much electricity will trickle down so we’re saving money for the retailers as well,” Murray said. “And it’s also just the right thing to do.”
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2