GREEN FACILITY
At SchoolPictures.com we pride ourselves on being a socially responsible organization, from our core business mission of providing high-quality student portraits while generating money for schools, to operating in an environmentally friendly manner and contributing to the local and global community by reducing our carbon footprint.
In August 2009, after extensive renovation efforts, SchoolPictures.com moved into its new green headquarters in Ypsilanti, Michigan, marking the culmination of efforts to “go green.” The facility, which was previously the campus of Ave Maria College, is now Michigan’s first pre-1950 building to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver status. Our goal was to create a set of environmentally friendly buildings that would serve our business needs and contribute to the greater environmental good of the community.
Our new facility features:
- Additional insulation to improve heating and cooling
- Low-wattage lighting and some motion-sensitive lighting
- All new baseboard heating and an increased number of zones for better efficiency
- All new double thermal-pane windows
- Waterless urinals, which will save approximately 30,000 gallons of water per year
- All new recycled flooring products, including non-PVC tile
During the renovation, we were able to recycle 80 percent of the 72 tons of debris that was removed from the site, and many of the recycled materials were put right back into the buildings. For example, hundreds of glazed blocks were used to construct new walls, the marble slab that lines our window sills has been reused from the original buildings and we have countertops made from recycled beer bottles. We also donated items that were abandoned, including library book shelving, wood doors and computer monitors, which are now being used by others in our local community.
Now that we’re settled into our environmentally friendly facility, we continue to make every effort to be as green as possible, including recycling paper and cardboard, using green cleaning products and purchasing power from renewable energy sources.
