Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc.

Project Description

ECT provided high-performance sustainable site design services for the new Kresge Foundation Headquarters and expansion in Troy, Michigan. The new design embraced the original 19th-century farm vernacular and included new outdoor spaces and green technologies to support the organization’s environmental mission. The foundation made it a requirement for all grant recipients to visit their renovated headquarters and tour the USGBC LEED Platinum certified facility to learn about and emulate their green practices where practical.  

The modern 20,000 square foot building addition made extensive use of glass and minimal exterior building structures to incorporate the outdoors - and provide abundant natural daylight. Landscape elements are strategically visible from all offices and meeting rooms to emphasize a connectedness with nature and foster a sense of well-being. 

The Midwestern prairie-inspired site design evolves across a series of naturalized plantings, green roofs, and constructed wetlands. The parking lot has permeable pavers and bioswales as part of the on-site stormwater management.  An above-ground 5000-gallon cistern collects excessive rain that falls onto the site for later use in irrigating the building’s green roofs and maintaining water levels in the created wetland feature.