ENERGY STAR Labeled Building Profile

Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48226
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The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center is owned and operated by the Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority.  It is the home of the Executive and Legislative branches of government for the City of Detroit and is the Judicial Center for the County of Wayne, MI. Hines is the property manager for this historic complex, which was dedicated in 1955 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The complex consists of two structures, the 20-story Courts Tower and a 14-story office tower. Designed by the firm of Harley, Ellington and Day, Inc., the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center is a model of International-style architecture, with ample exterior glass, generous use of marble accents, and a grand street-level entrance. This entrance is distinguished by the official seals of the County of Wayne and the City of Detroit (each more than 10 feet in diameter) and by a monumental 16-foot bronze statue depicting the Spirit of Detroit.

 

Energy efficiency for the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center posed a particular challenge for Hines property management. Inherent inefficiencies were everywhere: operable single-pane windows, a poorly insulated exterior building skin, and an inefficient constant-volume hot-deck/cold-deck HVAC system. Property managers conducted extensive replacement and retrofitting; for example, they replaced clogged and failing steam coils on air handling units and retrofitted a 135-ton chiller to run on river water rather than city condenser water. They also used active manual energy consumption control strategies to optimize energy savings by controlling the operation of chillers, fans, and lighting in all areas of the building. While the building has earned the ENERGY STAR for superior energy performance, property managers are still working to achieve additional reductions in  energy consumption in this public building. Lighting retrofits, additional chiller upgrades, and the installation of variable frequency drives (VFDs) on air handling units are all being considered. Additionally, the Board of Commissioners of the D-WJBA have adopted targeted initiatives to comply with the Green Buildings Agenda and are actively pursuing retrofits to qualify for a future certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System.

 

Hines has been recognized with multiple ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence and Partner of the Year awards. For a summary of the firm's participation in the ENERGY STAR program and other sustainability information, visit www.hines.com/sustainability.

Communications:

Unavailable

Testimonial:

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Please note: Narrative information in this profile has been provided by Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority or a representative of this facility. Other building information was verified and submitted to EPA at the time of application. Building energy performance, operating characteristics, and ownership/management may be subject to change over time.

Building Owner:*
Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority

Property Manager:*
Hines-Porcher

Year(s) Labeled (Rating):
2006 (75)
2007 (75)
2008 (77)
2009 (83)
2010 (96)
2011 (85)
2012 (88)
2013 (90)
2014 (89)
2015 (89)
2016 (89)

Facility Type: Office

Total Floorspace: 752806 sf

Year Constructed: 1952

Contract Type: None

Technologies Used:
Unavailable