Grosse Ile, Michigan

Photo of the Large Lakes and Rivers Research Building

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power

Water Management Plan

Native Landscaping

Large Lakes and Rivers Research Station

Total Facility Area: 32,477 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 45 persons
Energy Consumption: 8,446,695,260 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 260,082
Total Water Consumption: 342,608 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per Year: 11

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2007.

Description

The Large Lakes and Rivers Research Station in Grosse Ile, Michigan, is part of EPA's Mid-Continent Ecology Division (MED) in Duluth, Minnesota, and operates under the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The goal of the Grosse Ile laboratory is to develop methods to predict and assess the effects of pollutants and polluting activities on freshwater ecological resources.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

The Large Lakes Research Branch completed installation of a direct digital control facility management system, which is expected to help reduce energy consumption at the facility through enhanced monitoring and controls.

Green Power

In FY 2008, EPA continued to support the renewable energy market by purchasing green power through two separate Agencywide blanket contracts for a combined total of 380 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy certificates (RECs), or “green tags,” from Sterling Planet , Luminant Energy Company , and FPL Energy . These purchases will allow EPA to offset 100 percent of electricity consumption for FY 2008 and the first half of FY 2009 at the Grosse Ile laboratory, as well as many other EPA facilities across the Agency. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center, these contracts support renewable energy generation from wind and biomass resources in nine states.
In June 2006, EPA signed a contract to acquire 110 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates (RECs), or "green tags," from 3 Phases Energy Services over the period September 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. This blanket purchase supplied EPA with enough RECs through FY 2007 to offset 100 percent of annual electricity consumption at the Grosse Ile laboratory and other EPA facilities not covered by separate green power contracts. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center , this contract supported wind power generation in California, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
In June 2004, EPA entered into a three-year contract with 3 Phases Energy Services to purchase 700,000 kWh annually of green power in the form of RECs for the Grosse Ile laboratory, which represented 100 percent of the facility's electricity use. This contract supported the generation of renewable energy at a landfill gas facility in Lenox, Michigan.

Water Conservation

In August 2007, EPA completed a water management plan for the Large Lakes and Rivers Research Station (PDF) (16 pp, 465K, About PDF).
The Grosse Ile facility maintains an aggressive program to identify and respond to leaks. A screening level system review was completed in July 2007, and known water uses account for more than 90 percent of water consumption. Facility staff are trained to reports leaks and malfunctioning water-using equipment to the on-site facilities manager designee. The facility also makes use of an automatic leak detection system, based on conductivity bridges (“water bugs”) placed on the floor adjacent to water-using equipment.
The facility uses minimal landscape irrigation water. Across most of the three-acre site, grasses and shrubs are climate-suitable and survive on natural rainfall. Hand watering is limited and only applied to keep plants from dying off during dry conditions. In FY 2007, the laboratory began to evaluate a potential option to divert rainwater from a roof drain and store it in a cistern in the basement of the main laboratory building, then use it for landscape irrigation.

For More Information

John Filkins (filkins.john@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA
Large Lakes and Rivers Research Station
9311 Groh Road
Grosse Ile, MI 48138
Phone: (734) 692-7600

Web Site: www.epa.gov/med/grosseile_site/index.html