DTE Energy’s Agenda for Mitigating Climate Change
SHAWN PATTERSON, VP, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY, DTE ENERGY, AND MEMBER OF THE SBND LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE, SHARES HIS PERSPECTIVE ON MITIGATING CLIMATE CHANGE AS A TOP PRIORITY. When you’ve been in business a while, you come to understand that there is no such thing as “just business.” What we do impacts our communities, our customers, and our world. That’s part of why, at DTE Energy, we’ve built sustainability into our plans for the future to help ensure that we’re going above and beyond for what matters most. CLIMATE CHANGE IS AN ERA-DEFINING ISSUE Climate change is one of the defining issues of our era. That’s why last fall, DTE Electric unveiled our 2022 CleanVision Integrated Resource Plan, our proposal to fundamentally transform the way we produce electricity in our state, accelerating coal plant retirements and investing in cleaner Michigan-made energy – including wind and solar parks – to accelerate reductions in carbon emissions. These plans include MIGreenPower which gives both business and residential customers the opportunity to support clean energy infrastructure right here in Michigan without needing to install or maintain it themselves. Michigan businesses have already gotten involved in this program in a big way. Corporate leaders Ford and Stellantis made two of the largest renewable energy purchases ever from a utility in the U.S. in 2022, adding more than 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy to their automotive operations. This, combined with more than 85,000 residential enrollees, the MIGreenPower program is on pace to avoid as many as three million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, helping create a cleaner future for all. While natural gas is one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels, we offer ways for customers to offset their natural gas usage, too, with the Natural Gas Balance program. For a small fee, the program uses carbon offsets to protect forests across the Upper Peninsula and support the advancement of non-fossil fuels with renewable natural gas. This program is designed to play a role as we aspire to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. ENERGY EFFICIENCIES We also strive to help the businesses that support our communities with ways to make their operations more energy efficient. With our business energy advisors, business owners can find the right energy-efficient solutions for their operations. From business-specific tips and changes to technologies to help make it easier, we are here to guide our customers toward a more energy-efficient way of doing business. But carbon reduction isn’t the only thing we’re working on. We also strive to build a Michigan-based set of suppliers. DTE has invested nearly $18 billion with Michigan-based suppliers since 2010, creating and sustaining 65,000 Michigan jobs. As a founding member of Pure Michigan Business Connect, we recognize the importance of connecting with local suppliers and we require that most new bids include at least two Michigan companies. Sustaining local businesses as well as our environment are key components to building a better future for all of Michigan. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
Steam Heat, Detroit Thermal, and Powering Greater Downtown Detroit
For more than 100 years, Detroit Thermal has served many of Detroit’s buildings, including GM Renaissance Center, Huntington Place, Fox Theatre, Detroit Medical Center, Ford Field, The Fisher Building, the City of Detroit, and Wayne State University. In 2021, the company enrolled in DTE’s MIGreenPower program. A voluntary renewable energy program, MIGreenPower enables DTE electric customers to attribute a greater percentage of their energy use to Michigan-made wind and solar beyond the 15% DTE already provides. Detroit Thermal’s goal is to gradually increase its MIGreenPower enrollment to attribute 100% of its electric usage to renewable resources by 2030. SBN Detroit spoke to Todd Grzech, Detroit Thermal CEO, to learn more about how both steam heat and the company’s enrollment in the program impacts Detroit. Q: Tell us more about Detroit Thermal. A: Detroit Thermal is the district energy heating system for the city of Detroit. We’ve been delivering clean steam energy to the greater downtown Detroit area and services through an extensive underground network of steam piping for over 100 years. Detroit Thermal was one of the original district energy systems in the country and is a critical piece of Detroit’s energy infrastructure and we currently provide energy services to more than 100 buildings. Q: Is Detroit Thermal considered an alternative utility to DTE? A: Typically, we don’t see ourselves as that. We are more of an alternative to property owners providing their own heat energy, and we utilize DTE electric and natural gas to provide steam heat. Q: What are the benefits of steam over electricity? A: Energy savings and cost savings. From A BTU conversion standpoint per dollar, steam beats electric by a lot. Electric heat is very expensive. An analogy I like to use is the comparison between an incandescent light bulb and an LED. The amount of energy and the process required to turn the electricity to heat is much more complicated than steam heat – and there is waste in that. Another thing with steam from a pressure perspective is that it finds its own lower pressure area so we don’t need mechanics or fans to move the heat. Think of a steam pot when you see the steam moving. Its energy alone transfers the heat. This is not the case with electric heat. Q: Are you serving both older buildings and new builds? A: Yes. In Detroit, older buildings like the Fisher and Cadillac Place are piped for steam and have radiators that are designed for steam heat. Newer buildings are using hot water to create steam. A great example is Bedrock’s new Hudson’s site. It is connected to our underground system. The building is piped to carry hot water throughout. Steam heats the water, and the water moves through the piping to heat the spaces. It’s a closed-loop system in that the same water continues to be heated, then moves through the pipes, which is very efficient. Q: What are the challenges/barriers to entry when it comes to using Detroit Thermal for steam heat? A: The main challenge is geography. Where a building is located in relationship to our underground system. If it’s close to the system, it’s usually relatively easy to connect. If the building is too far away, it might be cost-prohibitive to run a pipe to connect just one building. When it comes to our infrastructure it’s about density. The more buildings that can share a single line the more cost-effective it is. There is a cluster of density in the central business district. The underground piping system does a loop basically from Ford Field to Huntington Place around and back. The Hudson’s site is pretty close to that loop so we just needed to run about 100 feet of piping off of that system to connect it. When you get farther away from the central business district piping might not make sense. On the consumption side, steam heat gets interesting as well. When we look at office buildings where operators are looking to maintain a nice temperature for all workers, steam heat is very effective. On the multifamily and apartment side, it’s desirable to have a unit in each space that can be metered and billed. You can’t do that with steam heat. Q: Is the steam used for heat only, or are there other uses within the buildings and businesses? A: It is used largely for heat but, yes, there are other uses. Some entities use steam for pressure, such as breweries. Russell’s Pharmacy in the Fisher Building uses it for its pharmaceutical processes. Hospitals use it for the sterilization of equipment. Restaurants can use it to clean dishes. Q: In 2021, Detroit Thermal enrolled in DTE’s MIGreenPower program and is gradually increasing its MIGreenPower enrollment to attribute 100% of its electric usage to renewable resources by 2030. The company’s commitment is said to ultimately offset the carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions from over 1,000 passenger vehicles driven for a year. Can you tell me how this works? A: Basically, we pay a premium today to support DTE’s development of solar energy and wind farms. With growth here, these sources become less expensive, and over time dollars are spread further to reach 100% of the electrical supply. Q: Is this an accelerator for Detroit Thermal toward your goals to reduce carbon footprint and or switch to 100% renewable energy? A: Yes, it is in line with our overall goals to reduce our carbon emissions footprint. We are on the path right path to do so as DTE defined the program. Q:How do you think this enrollment and the overall work you are doing make an energy impact on the City of Detroit and the overall region? A: I think, really, all companies in Detroit are working hard toward reducing energy consumption. From an energy consumption perspective, we consider ourselves to be like a co-op. if we are making energy improvements everybody gets the benefit – not only the company that is doing that locally. So, as we
Sustainability in Health Care: A Look at Henry Ford Health’s Green Efforts
Health care leaders have the uniquechallenge of improving the health and well-being of the individuals, neighborhoods, and communities they serve while simultaneously working to minimize negative and health-depreciating impacts on the environment. We spoke to Chip Amoe, who became Henry Ford Health’s first director of sustainability in 2018, about the challenges and successes he faces as he leads HFH to become more ‘green.’ Founded in 1915 by Henry Ford himself, Henry Ford Health is a not-for-profit, academic, and integrated health system comprising five acute-care hospitals, three behavioral health facilities, a health plan, and 250-plus care sites including medical centers, same-day, and urgent care clinics, pharmacies, eye care facilities, and other health care operations. The health system has more than 33,000 employees and nearly 6,000 physicians and researchers. Amoe took on the role with a conviction that HFH can work to lead by example and help influence the sustainability policies and actions of government officials and other businesses in the state and region. His original initiatives focused on reducing plastic and Styrofoam waste, exploring ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy reduction, and standardizing efforts across the system. Toward the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in December 2021 Henry Ford announced they will begin purchasing wind and solar energy through DTE’s voluntary renewable energy program, MIGreenPower. Amoe says, Our overall goal here is to reduce scope 1 & 2 emissions by 50% by 2030. To do that we need to reduce emissions from purchased energy. We plan to start purchasing this renewable energy in 2023, the earliest it will be available, and ramp it up over time. To that end, initially, 10% (approximately 19,100 mega-watt hours) of Henry Ford’s total electricity purchased from DTE will come from Michigan-made renewable energy, increasing incrementally to 100% by 2029. Henry Ford’s clean energy commitment with DTE will begin in late 2023. The organization states its initial purchase will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 13,536 metric tons, the equivalent of removing 2,944 passenger vehicles from the road each year. In terms of setting longer-term goals, Amoe said, “There are several national organizations that have developed green healthcare standards for healthcare systems. Taking those into consideration, we also felt it was important to turnto our internal priorities that align directly with our mission of improving the health of the communities we serve and that link health and sustainability.” The following five goals are derived from that exercise: Reduce emissions from operations Eliminate chemicals of concern, i.e. furnishings, cleaning chemicals, certain medical devices Reduce waste to landfills, such as bottled water, food waste, packaging, and utilizing reprocessed equipment Increase the purchase of local and sustainable food Increase the investment in green and healthy infrastructure, such as green spaces, stormwater management, advocacy around public transportation and employee commuting, and more When asked what pitfalls Henry Ford Health faces in implementing green efforts, Amoe cited two large challenges. “Data collecting is a huge challenge,” he said. “When I came on board I assumed the information was being collected and housed so that we could track it. But I quickly learned that wasn’t the case.We’re a large, complex system and there are multiple data sources maintained by multiple departments so you inevitably come to understand thereare gaps in the information. And you can’t move what you can’t measure. We are working to streamline our data collection efforts and it’s a long process.” The second challenge is the state of the U.S. recycling market. Just as I started my role in 2018, China announced that it would no longer be accepting recycled material from the U.S. This has been a big hit to the U.S. recycling market and made it much more challenging. Combine that with low landfill tipping fees in the state and the lack of recycling infrastructure in the region and that means recycling is often more expensive than throwing things away. Despite the challenges, Amoe and the Henry Ford team have implemented several initiatives in the past four years, including: Reducing the use of more potent anesthetic gasses from operating rooms to reduce emissions Eliminating Styrofoam from all their retail locations Upgrading exterior lighting to reduce energy waste Hosting their first zero-waste event They have also partnered with Friends of the Rouge to create raingardens at their new Plymouth medical center and south campus to divert stormwater and offer green space. When asked what the health care industry could improve on to forward sustainability efforts, Amoe said “it’s important to come together as an industry around common standards, and work with outside vendors as an industry to request and gather data in a common format so that vendors know how they can help us meet our shared goals of improving the health of our communities Additionally, the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Green Health Care Committee – which Amoe chairs – recently launched an MHA-approved Health Care Sustainability Road Map to give health systems a place to start when it comes to sustainability. “We are working to develop common standards and to provide resources to hospitals in Michigan and beyond.” In the end, Amoe says, “We hope to demonstrate to our staff, patients, vendors, and surrounding businesses the connection between health and sustainability, and further, to facilitate positive choices that impact the overall health of our community.” Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
