The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) is touting huge energy savings at state-owned buildings.
The analysis published Friday shows a 59% reduction of energy usage since 2005.
Spokesman Caleb Buhs credits conversion to modern technologies in those buildings.
“Things like LED lighting, smart lighting, so we now are only lighting spaces when people are in them and not when they’re not," he explained.
Buhs says a big part of that overall reduction can be credited to the energy center at the State Secondary Complex in Dimondale.
“Since 2012, we’ve had what’s called a cogeneration plant, where we maximize the use of our energy," he said. "We create energy with natural gas, and then in turn, that creates some steam. We use that steam to heat the buildings.”
The analysis covers 38 state-owned office buildings across Michigan.
As part of the MI Healthy Climate Plan announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, the DMTB was tasked with reducing energy usage in existing state buildings by 40% and ensuring new ones are carbon neutral by 2040.
