LEED Green Power for Cuyahoga

In May of 2008, the County of Cuyahoga, Ohio purchased 14,660,000 kWh worth of renewable energy credits (RECs) from Renewable Choice Energy to offset the two-year electricity use of its forthcoming Juvenile Justice Center. Their commitment offsets an environmental impact similar to planting 80,540 trees, or not driving 19,970,510 miles in an average U.S. passenger car – the equivalent of 84 trips to the moon!

Cuyahoga County’s purchase also helped them gain the Green Power Credit under the USGBC’s LEED NC 2.1 certification, which the building is pursuing. The center is scheduled to open in 2010, and its additional efforts toward environmental stewardship, according to Heery International, the developers of the project, include the acquisition “of a 16-acre brownfield site in a nearby Cleveland community.  Heery provided environmental analysis, which uncovered a variety of chemicals on the former factory and brewery site.  Its efforts in helping the County obtain remediation funding and managing site clean-up not only enabled the county to create a healthy site, but also to win the OEPA Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund Award.”

Another innovative environmental effort being pursued by Cuyahoga County is the sponsorship of a year-long study to assess the feasibility of erecting offshore wind turbines in Lake Erie, which could potentially consist of a pilot phase of three turbines generating 10-20 MW of electricity in total.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING

Cuyahoga County has taken a dilapidated building in need of much repair and put forth designs to transform it into a green building that sets the standard for all others around it. And they’re also considering offshore turbines? That’s true environmental stewardship. ~ Matt

Matt Kiszka is the LEED and Greenbuilding initiatives project manager for Renewable Choice