Jim Newman, managing partner of Bloomfield Hills-based Newman Consulting Group, will lead an interactive discussion aimed at educating facility managers and operating engineers on “green” building practices.
The Jan. 15 event promises to get at the “meat and potatoes” of energy savings, according to John Carlos, director of business affairs for Ferndale-based Energy Solutions Engineering Group.
“He’s (Newman) going to add a lot of flavor, and I believe a lot of education as well,” Carlos said. “Jim is going to be discussing the ways of being able to reduce consumption.”
ENERGY SAVINGS EVENT
- WHO & WHAT: Energy and LEED specialist Jim Newman will lead a discussion with facility and power plant engineers, property owners and management, and other local leaders.
- WHERE: Dimitri’s on the Avenue, 14316 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.
- WHEN: Jan. 15. Social hour is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., dinner from 6:30 to 7 p.m., and the presentation and discussion start at 7 p.m.
- COST: $25, includes dinner.
- RSVP: Brian Irwin at birwin@nalco.com. Mail payment to P.O. Box 87302, Canton, MI 48187.
Newman Consulting Group is an environmental building consulting firm. Newman himself is a certified energy manager, a certified sustainable development professional and a LEED accredited professional, according to a biography he provided the Oakland Business Review.
He also actively participates in many societies, including being chair of the Council of Affiliate Societies of The Engineering Society of Detroit, as a member of ESD’s Construction and Design Committee and of the Speakers Bureau, and is ESD’s spokesperson on energy and environmental issues, to name a few.
Members of the Southeastern Michigan Power Plant Engineers Society, as well as Oakland County commissioner Jim Nash and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers President Terry Townsend are scheduled to attend.
Powerplant engineers, facility engineers, property managers, and building owners will round out the roughly 100 to 150 expected attendees at the event, scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at Dimitri’s on the Avenue, 14316 Michigan Ave., Dearborn.
Townsend will add an air conditioning, air quality and reduction of electrical consumption perspective to the discussion, Carlos said.
While LEED certification won’t be the main focus of the discussion, Carlos said he realizes it is on the minds of many facility engineers and building owners. And even if building owners aren’t seeking an official designation, they still want to know what they can do to improve energy efficiency.
“In some cases, some of these buildings, for them it just doesn’t make sense for them to become LEED certified,” Carlos said, “but they do want to save energy, they do want to save money.
“We’ll discuss what makes sense for some of these other buildings that don’t necessarily want to become LEED certified,” or maybe want to consider it down the road.
And as a liaison for the U.S. Green Building Council, Carlos represents the human link between power plant facility engineers and the council, and will bring his experience to the discussion.
So what does he hope attendees take away from the event?
“In the sense of the building owners … they will see the importance of following this type of (“green”) pattern and, hopefully, if there’s state/county representation there, they see that there is such an importance in the community in having so many facility and engineers involved in this discussion.”
Newman was out of town and unavailable for comment.