Committee Members:
Deb Sypien - Rockford Construction; dsypien@rockfordconstruction.com Eliott Copier - Ferris State University; copiere@ferris.edu Gayle DeBruyn - Lake Affect Design; lakeaffect@comcast.net Greg Metz - Lott3 Metz; greg@lott3metz.com Jennifer Wammack - IDa Design; jennifer@id-adesign.com Lee Davis - Lake Affect Design; ldavis_lakeaffectdesign@comcast.net Matt VanSweden - Integrated Architecture; MVanSweden@INTARCH.com Mike Stemo - Market Technologies; mstemo@mktec.com Tom Newhouse - Thomas J. Newhouse-Design TJNDESIGN@aol.com Jack Cichy - Davenport University; jcichy@davenport.edu Lisa Locke - WMSBF; llocke@wmsbf.orgMission:
The mission of the Sustainable Design Committee is to encourage the talents and resources of West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum members; to practice the principles of sustainable design; and to communicate its strategic value to our membership and the broader community.
Objectives:
The Design Team has a multi-fold objective: 1) highlight sustainable activities for member companies (products, processes & services); 2) create linkages with local colleges (Kendall, Grand Valley State University, Aquinas, and Grand Rapids Community College) who have sustainability programs; 3) increase Forum membership (students, businesses, institutions).
Our methodology involves defining the WMSBF member company’s sustainability activity through a collaborative project that engages students in the creation an educational white paper and video. Both the video and white paper are published to the SBF web site. In addition, the video will be published to the WMSBF You Tube site. The video is made available to the participating companies for their distribution.
If you have interest in this program, please contact a Sustainable Design Committee member.
Videos:
West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum showcases The Haworth Member Garden, an organic garden designed to be shared with the community and encourage growth.
The Haworth Member Garden White Paper
Lee Davis’ Kendall students, in cooperation with the West Michigan Sustainable Business forum, review materials taken from a site sustain-ably deconstructed by GRCC’s Building Trades students and determine how they can be incorporated into a new home design for Habitat for Humanity.
Interior Design Repurposing White Paper
Cascade Engineering, Thomas Newhouse, Broadview Product Development and Herman Miller collaborate through the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum to develop a sustainable desk lamp.
These are fantastic examples of folks in West Michigan working together in various ways to make our community a better place to live, work, and play. Kudos to all!