Archives for 2014

Mayberry Homes’ Robert & Karen Schroeder engaged audience at third SPDC Industry Seminar Series

The MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction (SPDC) held its third Industry Seminar Series on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, in East Lansing. Featured speakers Robert and Karen Schroeder, co-owners and president and vice president, respectively, of Mayberry Homes, engaged students, faculty and the public during their presentation on “Homebuilding in Michigan: Surviving the Cycles.”

Joseph Maguire, president and CEO of Wolverine Development Corporation, and president and co-founder of the Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities (SERF), is the facilitator of the Series. These events continue to be popular with local alumni and industry leaders, and help to show SPDC students real-world examples of what is possible to achieve upon graduation.

To learn more about this event click here. 

MSU SPDC – Industry Speaker Series

Date: November 19,2014

Time: Presentation: 4:30pm -5:15pm Reception: 5:15pm -6:00pm

Robert Schroeder, the President of Mayberry Homes and Karen Schroeder, the Vice President of Mayberry Homes will present “Home building in Michigan: Surviving the cycles. ”

Robert and Karen Schroeder are owner and co-owner of Mayberry Homes which has been awarded “Building Partner of the Year” in 2013 by Homes for our Troops and both were inducted into Michigan Construction Hall of Fame in 2013.

The SPDC Industry Seminar Series is facilitated by Joseph Maguire, President and CEO of the Wolverine Development Corporation, and the Society of Environmentally Responsible Facilities (SERF).

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SERF and Roosevelt University to be featured speakers at AASHE Conference

We are proud to announce that SERF, in conjunction with the recently SERF Certified Roosevelt University, will be presenting at the 2014 AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) Conference in Portland, Oregon. The conference takes place from October 26th through the 29th. More information on AASHE can be found here.

We will be discussing the manner in which Roosevelt University students were able to take part in the certification process of their Vertical Campus in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. Roosevelt students gained first-hand industry experience, learned about groundbreaking green technologies, and received course credit for their work, while the University established an promising new method for educating students. We’re excited to share Roosevelt’s sustainability story and create new ones at the AASHE conference!

For more information on the content of our upcoming presentation, check out Roosevelt University’s SERF profile.

LCA All the Way

At SERF, we hold with the maxim that the greenest building is the one that is already built.

Except when we don’t.

It is generally the case that the reuse of an existing structure is a more sustainable route, even measured over a long time period, than demolition, disposal and construction of a new building, even one chalk full of energy-saving bells and whistles.

But as new systems—many of which are cost-prohibitive to install in existing buildings– lead to ever greater efficiencies, we see that maxims are not rules.  The path to determining the sustainable benefit of building new versus reuse lies in Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).

SERF Foundation’s Director of Research Stan Samuel has co-authored a white paper on Life Cycle Analysis and its potential to aid green building rating systems compare reuse versus new construction

Download a copy here

AIA CHICAGOARCHITECT: Roosevelt University’s Wabash Building gets SERF Certified

Click here to download the PDF: AIA CHICAGOARCHITECT MarchApr2014

Member of SERF Advisory Board Publishes Book on Practical Sustainability Strategies

Nikos Avlonas, sustainability expert and member of SERF’s Advisory Board, recently published a book on Practical Sustainability Strategies.

The first part of the book is on the various strategies a firm can implement to gain a competitive advantage without a negative impact on the environment and society.  The second part of the book  covers measuring, reporting, and communicating sustainability activities.  The authors intend to provide firms with the opportunity to integrate the appropriate strategy in order to become truly sustainable and then have a roadmap on how to market that achievement to its stakeholders. Additionally the authors hope to provide University Professors with a  practical book for teaching and integrating practical Sustainability into Business Curriculum and Classes.