Restoring Detroit’s Tree Canopy
Detroit was once known as the “city of trees,” but disease, invasive insects, and budget cuts over time have decimated our area’s distinctive tree canopy. But efforts are underway to replenish trees while also providing job training, green spaces, education, and community engagement. On Oct. 31, 2024, Sustainable Business Network Detroit hosted an informative discussion sponsored by the Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation regarding these efforts and how restoring tree canopy benefits individuals, neighborhoods, businesses, and the economy. The panelists were: Lionel Bradford, president and executive director, Greening of Detroit, a nonprofit focused on enhancing the quality of life for Detroiters by planting trees, providing job training, and involving youth in the education of the natural environment. It involves Detroiters in the process through community engagement, green spaces, education, and jobs. Maureen Donohue Krauss, president and CEO, Detroit Regional Partnership. DRP works to serve as a single point of contact for information, connection to services, incentives, and data for businesses who want to locate or expand in the 11-county Southeast Michigan Region. Robert Riney, president and CEO, Henry Ford Health, and leader of HFH’s $4 billion Destination: Grand initiative. The project includes a $2.2 billion expansion of HFH’s Detroit campus anchored by a new state-of-the-art hospital facility that will span 1.2 million square feet. It includes a 20-story patient tower, with three floors dedicated to providing intensive inpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation in partnership with the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and its own Central Energy Hub, making it one of the largest fully electric-capable hospitals in the country. The event was moderated by Terry Barclay, president and CEO of Inforum, and chair of SBN Detroit. Some of the takeaways: The case for tree canopy Lionel: Growing up in Southeast Louisiana – which is very hot – you quickly learn the value of a tree. It’s also a sportsman’s paradise – We did a lot of hunting, fishing, and camping, and I developed a great appreciation for the environment and its value. I also love people. The work that we do is about people at the end of the day, so when we do this work it’s to build community and neighborhoods. We try our very best – changing landscapes and lives is our motto. When someone has been incarcerated for 20 years and needs a second chance, they can come through your program – the Detroit Conservation Corps – and they can be trained and support their families. You can train people to put trees in the ground and maintain them. Maureen: Part of my role is to inform people that economic development is more than just a new factory in your town, more than just a tax abatement. It’s creating an environment that both people and companies want to be in. Sixty percent of our projects are from international companies – when people come here for the first time, they have expectations of what a first-class city looks like… Think about Paris and its phenomenal tree canopies. People want that here. I did a little research before this event: Homes with trees sell two days faster and for 15% more than homes without. Tree value increases with age – the cost of trees has 100% payback. Three properly placed trees can reduce air conditioning by 56% and reduce home heating bills by 10% by serving as a windbreak. Bob: You may think what does a healthcare system have to do with tree canopies? HFH is absolutely committed to increasing the health of communities – the role that hospitals and doctors play is about 20%. We don’t underestimate the power of that 20%, but true health – meaning how long people will live and have a high-value life – is a partnership of healthcare, policy, and environmental factors – which are huge. You may have seen that the biggest determinant of your health is the ZIP Code that you live in. You need to have fabulous healthcare, access to it, economic security, environmental security, and food and nutrition security. At HFH we need to be a population health company – we pick and choose how we should make our mark and one of the things we believe in is the power of the tree. We have to walk the talk. The economic benefits of tree canopy Maureen: Our organization has three pillars: market, grow, and support. It’s so much better now. People are curious to hear about Detroit and see what’s happening. Talent is No. 1 – we have the second-highest amount of engineers in the country and have experienced manufacturing talent. As one of my teammates says, it’s workforce, weather, and water. When you talk about climate change, Michigan will be in the top five least affected. The right amount of tree canopy and how trees are sourced Lionel: American Forests did a study and determined that a city the size of Detroit should be at 40%. Right now we’re at 26%. We lose about 2,000 trees a year, so those have to be taken into account. We get most of our trees from New York and Indiana and, more recently, Wholesale Tree Inc. in Northern Michigan. More importantly, we’re growing our own trees now – running the Walter Meyers Nursery in Rouge Park, which is owned by the city. We’re very intentional about turning into a full-fledged operational business. Last year, we harvested our first set of trees. We have lost a lot of trees over time, and the reason we have lost a lot of those is because the city lacked the resources, and dead trees were not removed and were taken down by storms. This administration has done a great job by taking trees down when dead and dying. Working with DTE has been quite thrilling – they have given financial support to planting trees but also to making sure that the next generation of environmental stewards are trained by supporting our Green Corps summer programs and also the tree
THRIVE Collaborative’s Approach to Sustainable Development
THRIVE Collaborative is an Ann Arbor-based real estate development, design, building, and consulting firm dedicated to creating life-enhancing, grid-interactive buildings that harvest their own energy and water, create zero waste, and are beautiful and restorative. Its current project – Veridian at County Farm in Ann Arbor – is a 100% electric development, powered by solar with no gas lines or combustion appliances. It is targeted to be one of the nation’s first mixed-income net zero energy communities. SBN Detroit interviewed Matt Grocoff, THRIVE Collaborative founder and lead on the Veridian project, to find out more. Q: How do you approach creating buildings that harvest their energy and water and create zero waste, and how long have you been doing this work? A: Thrive Collaborative approaches sustainable development by aiming to create buildings and communities that align with what is necessary for the future. Our flagship project, Veridian, is a model for addressing pressing climate challenges. When we started Veridian in 2016, we were guided by the goals of the Paris Agreement, which sets a target of keeping global temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius. This means eliminating fossil fuels and using only renewable energy to power buildings. I see Veridian as an act of optimism. It is a 100% all-electric community, with no gas or fossil fuels. It’s powered entirely by on-site renewable energy, including solar panels, battery storage, and geothermal systems. Every home in the development produces more energy than it consumes, ensuring it is not only sustainable but capable of energy storage for future use. The idea is to show that what we need to do for the planet can also create a beautiful and socially just way of living. Q: In your experience, what are the biggest challenges in integrating sustainable practices into real estate development in Southeast Michigan? A: One of the biggest challenges we face is that there is no existing template for what we are trying to accomplish. The science of sustainability is clear, but the regulatory framework, building codes, and conventional construction practices in the U.S. don’t match what we are trying to achieve. Veridian uses a specific permeable road surface called Ecoraster. This is an eco-friendly, flexible, porous paver made from 10% post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastics. However, the material was initially rejected by the city. We had to prove it met the necessary standards, which took nine months to do. This is one of dozens – maybe hundreds of examples of outdated building codes and policies that just don’t align to support the materials and practices we are employing. There are also challenges related to training contractors and tradespeople in new, sustainable methods. Q: How have you navigated these challenges? A: The key is to approach it knowing that sustainable development is both necessary and possible. There are always people who say, “That’s not how construction is done,” but that resistance creates an opportunity for innovation. Q: What role does Veridian play in the broader sustainability movement in Southeast Michigan, and what are your long-term goals for this project? A: At a micro level, Veridian Farms is about creating a model neighborhood that implements the necessary solutions for sustainability. The project serves as a case study for what’s possible when we fully embrace renewable energy, energy efficiency, and zero-waste practices. At a macro level, the goal is to demonstrate that these methods can and should be replicated across Southeast Michigan and beyond. The science is telling us that we need to cut global carbon emissions in half by 2030 to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. By showing that this level of sustainability is possible today, we hope to inspire policymakers, developers, and financial systems to support and scale these efforts. Q: What are the economic implications of building sustainable communities like Veridian? A: There’s often a misconception that building sustainably is prohibitively expensive, but that’s not the case when you take a holistic view. While technologies like geothermal heating and certain types of appliances might cost more upfront, they pay off over time. Solar panels, for example, lock in energy costs for 30 years, which is far more economical than relying on fossil fuels, whose prices fluctuate. When we look at costs holistically — factoring in the environmental impact of conventional practices — sustainable building becomes the more affordable option. We must rethink what “cost” means, not just in terms of the price of materials but in terms of the long-term health of the planet and the people who live in these homes. Q: What is the timeline for Veridian? A: We proposed the project in 2016. It took a couple of years to get approved. We are almost to year nine and we have our first residents living there now. The renewable energy systems are up and running and every home is producing more energy than it uses. Homes are heated and cooled with energy provided by the sun. Instead of storm drains, we have bioswales and butterfly gardens and birds and plants. We engineer using plants and pipes, but we use natural systems to operate more elegantly than the conventional expensive, and unsustainable storm drain systems. By the end of the year, we’ll have all residents moved into our first sequence, which is 21 single-family homes. By early next year, we’ll have another ten two-bedroom lofts occupied. Q: What are some of the lessons you’ve learned from past projects that are helping guide future developments? A: All innovative projects are learning opportunities. One major lesson is the need for a significant shift in the American construction industry. Compared to Europe, where sustainable building practices are more advanced and efficient, the U.S. lags in terms of both financial structure and the materials used. We also need to address the utter lack of diversity in the trades—something Europe has done more effectively. We’ve also learned that collaboration is critical. Whether it’s working with local governments to navigate building codes or partnering with vendors to source sustainable materials, the
