(Holland, Mich.) – Holland Energy Park recently received the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s (ISI) Envision Platinum award recognizing the sustainability of public infrastructure. Holland Energy Park is the first-in-the-country base load power generating plant to receive an Envision rating.  The Holland Board of Public Works created the Holland Energy Park to be a reliable power resource for the Holland community that is socially, economically and environmentally responsible.

“Our community set out to make the Holland Energy Park a benchmark for sustainable infrastructure development,” said Dave Koster, general manager of the Holland Board of Public Works. “We’re deeply gratified to have earned the Envision Platinum recognition from ISI, because it validates the sustainable, reliable and affordable power generation we’ve built to serve our community for decades to come.”

Envision is a verification process specifically designed to rate the sustainability of infrastructure. The process measures five categories: Quality of Life, Leadership, Natural World, Resource Allocation, and Climate and Risk. The categories measure the positive social, economic and environmental impacts in a community throughout the planning, design and construction of infrastructure projects.

Holland Energy Park was designed in coordination with Envision requirements and the City of Holland’s long-range Community Energy Plan, a 40-year plan to become a world-class leader in energy security, affordability, sustainability and efficiency.

HOLLAND ENERGY PARK RATED ENVISION PLATINUM

The HEP fulfills three core functions:  to be a world-class resource that provides a sustainable and long-term energy source and an educational hub; to be a destination that provides activities for the public to connect the community; and also to be a gateway-enhancing eastern access into the City of Holland.

“Holland Energy Park is the product of over a decade of thoughtful planning and community engagement to provide responsible, sustainable energy for Holland,” said Koster, “We are proud that through strenuous efforts Holland Energy Park earned ISI’s highest recognition level.”

When fully operational, the $240-million Holland Energy Park will feature:

• a modern building design that creates an eastern gateway to the City of Holland.
• a 50% reduction in carbon emissions and the virtual elimination of solid particle pollutants.
• double the fuel efficiency of Holland’s present power generation.
• open, public space connecting Windmill Island Gardens to the Macatawa Greenway trail system.
• an expansion of Holland’s innovative snowmelt system.
• the latest combined-cycle natural gas generating technology, producing up to 145 megawatts of power to meet the needs of a growing community.

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The Holland Board of Public Works is auctioning off the last remaining buildings at the Holland Energy Park. This 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom home, built in 1939, has served as the administrative office and conference space for the BPW the past year. New kitchen cabinets and counter tops were installed in the home in 2014. A detached garage is also available.

Two pole buildings are also up for auction. An open house will be held on June 10 from 3 – 5 p.m. and the auction will take place on June 18 at 10 a.m. This home and any additional buildings will need to be moved to your property. For more photos and information, visit http://jpauctionservice.com/main/?page_id=715.

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2006 – Growing energy demand prompts HBPW to pursue expanding generation at the James DeYoung coal power plant. This begins a six-year exploration of new generation technologies including algae biofuel, a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler, and carbon sequestration. See the timeline.

2012 – Year-long Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) study conducted by HBPW and HDR (a global independent consulting firm) examines the affordability, reliability, social, economic, environmental and health impacts of several generation options. Study points toward a natural gas solution with supplemental Power Purchase Agreements for renewable energy. Watch the SROI presentation.

2013 – HPBW selects location for the Holland Energy Park around 5th St & Fairbanks. The brownfield site’s proximity to downtown allows for easy expansion of the snowmelt system and offers the opportunity to renew and improve the city’s primary eastern gateway. Here’s the site before and after demolition. Read more about selecting the site.

2014 – The Blue Ribbon Panel, made up of several community representatives, agree on a design that represents a resource, destination and gateway for the Holland community. Learn about the design process.

2015 – HBPW breaks ground on the Holland Energy Park and construction begins. The park is scheduled to open in early 2017. Watch the groundbreaking ceremony.

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The need for expansion

One benefit of having the Holland Energy Park natural gas plant close to downtown is that it can support expansion of our snowmelt system. Currently, Holland’s snowmelt is at maximum capacity, supported by the oldest operating coal-fire unit at the James DeYoung power plant. Clear sidewalks, streets and parking spots have been a major factor in attracting businesses and customers to the downtown commercial district year-round since the snowmelt system was first installed in the late 80s. As the district continues to grow down 8th Street and with proposed changes to the Civic Center, it will be important that the snowmelt system grow as well to promote continued economic growth.

New construction

With the completion of the Holland Energy Park slated for early 2017, HBPW expects to transition the snowmelt system over to being entirely supported by the new plant next year. As anyone who drove through Holland would have noticed this summer, construction crews have already made significant progress on installing the new headers, which will carry warm snowmelt water to and from the plant, under 8th Street and down Central and Columbia Ave. Additional work on 9th Street this summer will help complete the layout of new headers.

Holland’s system represents the largest municipal snow melt system in the United States, and the advantages for the community are clear: no snow and slush, increased safety, extended pavement life, and increased activity downtown to name a few. Downtown owners, tenants and customers alike all benefit from this system, and HBPW is committed to growing and sustaining it for years to come. For more details and a history of our snowmelt system, take a look at the linked brochure from the HBPW:

HBPW Snowmelt Brochure

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Learn About the Holland Energy Park Cooling Towers

Why do we need cooling towers?

As construction advances on the Holland Energy Park (HEP), passersby will notice significant progress on the cooling towers structure nearest Chicago Drive. These towers are critical components for cooling the “combined cycle” process that increases the thermal efficiency of the plant. To learn more about how it works, check out the diagram below. Notice how the closed loop from the cooling towers captures excess heat from the plant, helping condense steam from the combined cycle process back into liquid.

How the combined cycle plant works.

What comes out of the cooling towers? Is it smoke?

The only thing exiting the cooling towers is clean water vapor. The cooling towers evaporate water from an entirely separate and contained loop that does not come in contact with the combustion or generation processes.

Will there be a plume?

One of the most frequent questions we hear about the HEP cooling towers is, “Will it produce a big plume [cloud] or shut down the road like the plant in Zeeland?” Unlike the natural gas plant near Chicago Drive in Zeeland, our cooling towers are equipped with ClearSky plume abatement technology to ensure virtually no plume on most days and a very reduced plume under the most inclement conditions. This was an important concern to us from the beginning stages of our planning process including site selection, and so we elected to invest in plume abatement early on to avoid any interruptions to the road or surrounding natural area. Learn more about the process at http://spxcooling.com/Clearsky/solutions/

*image property and courtesy of SPX Cooling, ClearSky Solutions: http://spxcooling.com/Clearsky/solutions/

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Energy Park builder Krystle Kosbar wins MASCI Apprenticeship Award

Barton Malow employee Krystle Kosbar earned the 2015 MASCI Excellence in Apprenticeship Award for her commitment to developing her craft, leadership skills, community service and competitive spirit. The Michigan Apprenticeship Steering Committee (MASCI), founded in 1977, is a multi-sector advocacy group promoting the benefits of Registered Apprenticeship programs. Kosbar has been an apprentice with Barton Malow at the Holland Energy Park since March 2015 developing her skills as Operating Engineer.

“Krystle sets a great example for the next generation of builders,” said Pat Zinser, the instructor who nominated her. “Energetic, sharp and always on top of her game, she’s been a valuable asset to our team.”

The Holland Energy Park construction project employs over 200 builders from across the region, about 18 of which are Registered Apprentices developing their craft.

“I can’t imagine a better project to help workers improve their craft,” commented Dan Nally, business services director at HBPW. “The Energy Park is a chance to learn while working on a world-class project.”

Kosbar was also featured in a Pure Michigan Talent Connect video promoting construction jobs for the state. Check it out below:

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One engaging feature of the new Holland Energy Park will be a visitor center that uses both internal and external space to showcase the stories about our history, technology, community and environment that are intertwined in the Energy Park.

We took a big step toward our vision for the visitor center last month when the project’s design company–the Design Minds–visited Holland for two days of interviews and fact-finding. The high point of the visit was an evening meeting at the Holland BPW service center at which the Design Minds team met with educators, business people and civic leaders for a community charette on how the visitor center should look, feel and function.

Charette participants in a brainstorming session at the HBPW Service Center.

Declaring their two-day visit a great success, the Design Minds team said they plan to have conceptual ideas ready for discussion with the project team by mid-January. To learn more about the Design Minds and the kinds of work they’ve done visit their site.

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Senator Gary Peters visited the Holland Energy Park yesterday to learn the story behind it’s development and the environmental improvements to the area. Accompanying him on the tour were Mayor Robert Vande Vusse, HBPW board president Tim Hemingway, general manager Dave Koster, project director Dan Nally and operations director Ted Silers. The group toured construction progress and looked at the core technology already in place on site. They also talked about efforts to restore the adjacent wetland, expand community access to the natural area and combat invasive species.

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Read the report here. Or find the original download and more at Environmental Leader’s website.

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Barton Malow, partnering contractors and unions signed a partnership agreement with the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) on Wednesday marking a pledge toward an exceptionally safe work site at the Holland Energy Park. The agreement represents a proactive commitment toward demonstrating leadership, responsibility and accountability in worker safety across the whole project. It also sets forward an ultimate goal of zero injuries, zero accidents and zero near misses – goals to be accomplished by creating 100% safe site conditions through collaboration, education, monitoring and enforcement.

The Holland Board of Public Works is a supporting partner of the agreement, which is consistent with our absolute commitment to employee and vendor safety in our operations.

*Special thanks to Brenda Woodman for providing photography.

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