Blue Cross parking structure first in nation to be LEED certified

The nine-story Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan parking structure at its downtown campus has officially been LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the United States Green Building Council. It is the first such structure to earn this designation.

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To be certified in the LEED program, a project is granted points for various sustainable features. One category involves the percentage of parking that is a dense parking deck — which this project earned.

The structure has a fitness room complete with showers. It also has a one-tenth-mile walking track on the roof made from recycled materials. Steel and concrete building supplies used for the structure were recycled.

Also making the green case is the complicated storm water system, said Buck. The water catchment system includes a cistern 10 feet in diameter and 164 feet long. That water is used for watering the vegetation on the roof and to clean the structure.

Read the entire Crain's Detroit Business article here.

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