ESD Sets Tours Of Three Award-Winning High-Tech Buildings

SOUTHFIELD — Last week, The Engineering Society of Detroit recognized the winners of its 41st annual Construction & Design Awards.

Now, ESD Members can tour some of those award-winning buildings, getting an exclusive insider’s look at the high-tech touches that made them award winners.

Tours are now scheduled of the following buildings:
* The John D. Dingell Transit Center in Dearborn, Wednesday, July 22, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
* The Wayne State University Advanced Technology Education Center in Warren, Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
* The Oakland University Engineering Center, Thursday, Aug. 20, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

The tours are $25 for ESD Members. Non-members can join ESD for $75, a 25 percent discount, and attend the tour for free. (This offer is for new, first-time members only.)

To register, call ESD at (248) 353-0735, ext. 222, or visit www.esd.org. For more information, contact Matt Roush, ESD Director of Communications and Public Relations, at (248) 353-0735, ext. 112.

Details of the tours are as follows:

* The Dingell Center, at 21201 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, is a high-tech transportation hub that connects rail, bus and taxi services, plus a link to a 20-mile-long non-motorized greenway. It also offers direct service to southeast Michigan’s No. 1 tourist attraction, The Henry Ford. The 16,000-square-foot building won honorable mention in this year’s ESD Construction & Design Awards. The $28.2 million project has many innovative features, including a 60
-well geothermal heating system, advanced LED lighting, bio-swales for runoff treatment, and moveable resin platforms that meet ADA requirements for passenger trains while still allowing freight carriers to bring wide, low loads through the station. You’ll hear how the partnership of the city of Dearborn, designers SmithGroupJJR of Ann Arbor and Neumann/SmithArchitecture of Southfield, and constructors Clark Construction Co. of Lansing and Tooles
Contracting Group LLC of Detroit had to overcome many obstacles to create this beautiful addition to Dearborn’s Michigan Avenue corridor. Key to the success of the project was also a design team able to revise the original design in only a month, and a contractor able to tackle a challenging Michigan Avenue site. The project worked around freight trains that do not have an established schedule. And in terms of environmental consciousness, the project features 60 geothermal wells for heating and cooling, spray foam insulation, LED lighting and ambient light sensors, along with bio-swales for runoff treatment.

* The Wayne State University Advanced Technology Education Center, at 14601 E. 12 Mile Road, Warren, is an adaptive reuse and renovation of an existing 40,000-square-foot grocery store. It won an ESD Construction & Design Award. The plan involved converting the nondescript building into one reflecting a higher education environment inside and out, while meeting the $12 million budget and sustainability goals. Construction began in August 2013 and was delivered on schedule for fall semester 2014, within budget. The building features a vibrant atrium bathed in natural light, and uses flexible furniture ideal for impromptu meetings. A new mezzanine level creates private space. Flexible classrooms are built on raised floors, allowing for power and data distribution throughout. In terms of sustainability, the majority of exterior brick and structural steel was reused, natural light is delivered into corridors and interior spaces with solar tubes, the landscaping is designed not to need irrigation, advanced plumbing fixtures were used, and advanced HVAC and lighting systems were used. NORR LLC was the designer of the project, and The Christman Co. was the constructor.

* The Oakland University Engineering Center is on the Oakland University campus in Rochester, off University Drive east of Squirrel Road. (See map at this link.) The new 128,000-square-foot, five-story structure is the university’s new building for its School of Engineering and Computer Science which provides advanced technologies for academic engineering studies, while sustainable mechanical and electrical systems serve as hands-on learning tools for students. The building also includes a high-bay capstone lab, clean room, full service machine shop, and rooftop energy lab where students conduct experiments on solar and wind generation. A spectacular six-story atrium lobby includes creatively designed nooks for study and small group meetings. Throughout the building are scattered small collaborative spaces that can be closed off or opened up in creative ways. All feature comfortable seating, plenty of power and Ethernet outlets. The building is also open, with windows everywhere, including from classrooms and laboratories to interior hallways, offices and labs. One particular point of pride — classrooms for students who may not yet have decided on engineering as a major that overlook the big labs where senior projects are designed and Formula SAE cars are built. The building also features many energy efficiency touches, and will apply for LEED Gold certification. Included are high-efficiency LED lighting with motion detectors in classrooms and laboratories, rainwater capture for landscaping irrigation, and onsite power generation — two 200-kilowatt natural gas-fired turbines. SmithGroup JJR was the designer on the project, and Walbridge the constructor.