A University of Michigan building on the medical campus was recently honored as a “Biggest Loser” in a statewide competition. That designation, however, is a good thing.
On May 14 at the Michigan Energy Summit in Lansing, the Michigan Green Building Collaborative named the A. Alfred Taubman Health Sciences Library a 2025 winner in the education category of its Battle of the Buildings competition that recognizes outstanding energy conservation.
Battle of the Buildings is an awards and recognition program for energy use reduction open to all Michigan area commercial, industrial and multi-family buildings. The program is a way to encourage energy-efficient practices in buildings across the state and to instill a spirit of friendly competition among the area’s building owners and operators. The University of Michigan has a long tradition of winning the award, its 15th overall.
“The University of Michigan is advancing its campus energy transition, with a goal of achieving net-zero emissions across all campuses by 2040,” said Jack Gosselin, regional energy manager for the Medical School in the Office of Campus Sustainability & Innovation and U-M Facilities & Operations. “Sustainability at U-M remains strong, and efforts like the energy management work at Taubman Library show how the campus community continues to move progress forward.”
Through intensive investigatory methods and the OCSI Building Tune Up program, team members from OCSI, Health Science Region Maintenance, Central Shops, Architecture, Engineering & Construction, and Medical School Facilities identified multiple operational issues with the building’s HVAC system that led to inefficiencies and opportunities for energy reduction.
Over the course of 2024, the team made multiple adjustments to the HVAC control system and started to realize energy savings while meeting the demands from the students, faculty, and staff who utilize this facility. The changes resulted in a 23% year-over-year energy reduction — about 100-125 metric tons of CO2 per year — improved thermal comfort, and $30,000 in annual cost savings. In addition, all costs were paid back in less than a year.
“I am extremely appreciative of our energy management engineers, who approach their work with humility and a strong sense of responsibility, often viewing their contributions as simply ‘just doing their job,’” said Mary Tresh, senior director of Medical School Facilities. “Without their commitment and expertise, along with the support and programs of the Office of Campus Sustainability, we would not be nearly as successful in advancing the Medical School’s energy reduction goals and reducing our environmental impact.”
The Taubman Library supports the research and curricular needs of the university’s health sciences schools, the Michigan Medicine Ann Arbor medical campus, and associated disciplines. It underwent a $55 million, 137,000-square-foot renovation, reopening in 2015 as an all-digital, technology-driven learning center. The library achieved LEED Gold Certification as part of the renovation project.
