Genesis of Ann Arbor

Genesis of Ann Arbor, a 38,000-square-foot shared spiritual and community space, took meaningful strides toward sustainability by focusing on practical, low-cost solutions in late 2023 and into 2024. Part of their mission is to be good stewards of our home, the earth. The active Green Team is attuned to all measures to prevent climate volatility, and the Building Committee supports the decarbonization goals in its assessments of building capital needs.

As part of implementing their Building Decarbonization Plan, created with support from Washtenaw/Ann Arbor 2030 District and consultation with Inclination Engineering, the Genesis Board actively investigated purchasing new thermostats for the building. However, this proved to be cost-prohibitive. 

The Genesis building has six Rooftop Units (RTUs), four furnaces, and a boiler. All of these operate using natural gas for heating. As each HVAC unit has at least one thermostat, they found that they were adjusted “willy-nilly” by building users. Sometimes, building users would switch a thermostat from heating to AC if they were warm, and the RTUs would work against each other, as neighboring zones were still on the heat setting. 

After volunteer efforts to program the thermostats proved ineffective, Genesis ended up hiring Steven Kurz in 2023 to act as the Assistant Facility Manager. With Kurz’s extensive experience with commercial building management, he took on the challenge of programming the thermostats. In the Fall of 2023, Kurz programmed and locked all the thermostats, successfully completing the mission 

Kurz used a weekly program function for each thermostat, based on building area use. He reduced the set points for the cold months from their random setpoints, based on whoever adjusted the thermostat last, to 66°F when in use and to 62°F when not in use. The offices are set higher when occupied. 

Another example is their weekly food pantry event, where, on average, 170 families are given food in the Social Hall every Thursday. The doors are propped open to ease access. The thermostats in the Social Hall are set very low (58°F) in colder months, as workers are coming and going in their coats as they serve food pantry patrons.  

A secondary Energy Savings Measure was completed at the start of 2024. To improve the building envelope, Kurz sealed the area under a large skylight in the social hall with plastic sheeting. There were also two old, non-functioning air-handling units on the roof of their social hall, which were insulated and sealed for energy waste reduction. Kurz also replaced all of the fluorescent lights in the classrooms with LEDs, including removing the ballast energy hogs.

The primary reason that they decided to pursue programming the thermostats was that Caleb Kline from Inclination Engineering highlighted the likely energy savings. They learned that they were using energy that they did not have to and were interested in saving money on utility costs. In doing these measures, the outcome was 17%  saved  ($1,950) annually in natural gas costs. Additionally, a 7.20% decrease in weather-normalized source energy use intensity (kBtu/sq ft) and a reduction of 17.81 metric tons of CO2e, representing an 8.70% decline in greenhouse gas emissions.

An additional benefit was better management of the air exchange handlers. As they installed MERV 13 filters and kept the fans constantly running in response to COVID, they started to use more electricity. They had better air quality, but at an energy and dollar cost. Through analysis of the existing meter system, they realized that the air exchange fans only needed to be active when the building was occupied.  The assessment of occupancy patterns to determine the thermostat settings also helped them when the air exchange fans needed to be actively engaged.

Now that the thermostats are under control, they are looking at ways to get smart thermostats, which can link to the building calendar to turn off HVAC equipment when building areas are not in use. Last but not least, a committee works on capturing carbon reductions through food systems, including scope 3 emissions.

The Genesis team believes that building occupants feel happier if they don’t have to adjust thermostats! People don’t need to remember the location or how to adjust the switches. Whenever someone feels hot or cold, the facility attendants know how to adjust the settings. They have found that building users grumble less about the temperature when they don’t have the ability to adjust it themselves. It was noted that “Any of us over the age of 55 can attest to ‘thermostat wars’ in commercial buildings during our work tenures!” 

The Genesis team is very excited to be presenting their second Michigan Battle of the Buildings award to their congregations. In 2024, Genesis received an award in the Water category. The team foresees the same level of excitement and eagerness to continue achieving their goals. The clergy is very supportive of the sustainability work and frequently reminds the congregants of the importance of being green.

Beyond energy, Genesis uses sustainable gardening and encourages building users and congregants to recycle. The “Genesis Green Policy” document is given to people and organizations that use or rent space in the building. 

When asked what their favorite part of the entire project was, a Genesis representative stated, “This was a simple fix for something that could have been fixed decades ago. All it took was Steven Kurtz’s determination and enthusiasm to get this done. Kurz is also a member of Saint Claire’s and, including being a building management professional, has a master’s degree in divinity. The Lord works in mysterious ways.” 

Going forward, they will  be taking the following planned actions:

• Replace the oldest RTU (for the Sanctuary) with an air-source heat pump by the end of 2025.
• Increasing the number of solar panels on the roof by about one-third. These panels will be installed in May 2025.
• A few weeks ago, they had the building envelope tested for leaks using an energy audit that included blower door testing. They anticipate that dozens of areas that showed air leakage to the outside will be sealed and insulated where needed, pending the final assessment from EverGreen Energy Savers, the vendor who did the testing. The testing included going into the plenums above the ceilings, which showed air leakage around steel beams in several areas. There are also five obvious holes in the envelope, which were tabulated in the decarbonization plan. They plan to seal all these areas to improve air leakage from the building envelope.
• The decarbonization plan calls for upgrading the electrical panels to support geothermal installation and converting all gas equipment into electric (HVAC, kitchen, and hot water). This will increase the electrical energy use and eliminate natural gas use. They are hopeful that the Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) will become available soon, so that all the utility-sourced energy will come from sources other than fossil fuels. 
• Potential installation of car charging stations.