Park paves way for new eco-friendly facilities

Michigan’s state parks are the next participants in the going green trend.

A new green toilet and shower building at Grand Haven State Park is the first of its kind in Michigan and will serve as the prototype for all future state park renovations and new facilities, said Patrick Whalen, unit supervisor for Grand Haven State Park.

The new building includes natural lighting, reduced-flow showerheads with occupancy sensors and five-minute timers, low-flow toilets and urinals and natural daylighting, among other green components, Whalen said.

Integrated Architecture, a sustainable architecture firm based in Grand Rapids, collaborated with the Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, on this project, Whalen said.

There are 97 state parks in Michigan, which could reflect the building’s sustainable design and amenities in the future, said Trisha Spaulding, public relations manager for Integrated Architecture.

“We’ve been doing these green buildings for ten years,” Spaulding said. “It really is just the beginning of showing people that the DNR respects both the natural environment and the man-made environment.”

The project focused on three main concepts: convenience for users, safety and sustainability, said Randy Pease, a senior project designer for Integrated Architecture.

The building itself costs about $700,000, Whalen said. Fifty percent of the cost was funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and 50 percent was paid for by the DNR Parks and Recreation division, he said.

The park hasn’t seen changes in its bills yet, but the busy summer camping season has just begun, Whalen said.

The new facility replaced an approximately 50-year-old brick building and meets the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards, Spaulding said.

Spaulding said LEED buildings use recycled and sustainable materials that don’t harm the natural environment, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm has mandated that all new state buildings meet LEED standards.

“That only makes sense because in the long run, they work more efficiently,” Spaulding said.

Matt Syal, an MSU professor of planning, design and construction, said the first set of LEED building guidelines were set in 2000.

To be consider LEED certified, buildings are gauged by six categories: sustainability of the site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design processes.

Spaulding said LEED buildings like the new toilet/shower building at Grand Haven State Park are more efficient and therefore more cost effective. They are friendlier to the environment as well as to the people who use them, she said.

The project took about 10 months to complete: four months for the design phase and about six months for the actual construction of the facility, Pease said.

“We were approached by the state, specifically the DNR, to develop a prototype restroom and this goes beyond the Grand Haven restroom,” Pease said.