| Our Mission: Improving life through a better built environment For over 25 years, it has been our mission to improve life through a better built environment. We believe individuals can make a difference, and our firm pledges to be a leader in the movement to an energy efficient, healthy built environment. This leadership is as much a part of our personal beliefs as it is our professional practice. We view the green movement as a commitment that goes beyond the projects we touch. That is why we work to educate owners, developers and clients across the nation about the benefits of sustainable practices. We have conducted educational seminars at the USGBC's Greenbuild and at other conferences nationally. We have developed sustainable design guidelines for organizations across the country and are working with the Department of Energy to make net-zero commercial buildings the standard by 2025. We have built our practice around our mission. With that, M.E. GROUP / design+green provides a complementary set of Design and Green services, each of which ensures an economically and environmentally balanced approach to every project. |
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Our clients are served by a staff of 75 professionals from offices across the Midwest. The firm’s management emphasizes a highly collaborative environment with a prevailing commitment to the development of high performing and sustainable buildings that result in a positive net impact for our clients and the community. Beyond our individual assignments, M.E. GROUP / design+green has been committed to sustainable building practices advocacy at the state, local and national levels. What can you expect when you work with M.E. GROUP / design+green? Active Principal Involvement - Every project has a dedicated Principal from inception to close-out. The Principal provides overall project strategy and direction and participates in major project meetings during all phases of the project. Each level of analysis and deliverable is overseen and reviewed by the project’s Principal. Most importantly, the firm’s energy models, life cycle cost analyses, and economic and environment analyses will be heavily directed by the expertise of the project’s Principal, who will lead a collaboration of the firm’s talents to achieve the most appropriate results. Hands-on Project Manager - Working closely with the project Principal, the Project Manager is responsible for the coordination and communication of M.E. GROUP / design+green’s services. The Project Manager will be actively involved in the technical delivery of each project and providing a constant and consistent point of contact. Collaboration of Minds to Achieve Optimal Results - M.E. GROUP / design+green has a diverse range of individual expertise, including business consulting, architectural engineering, construction management, energy analysis, information technology and anthropology. The firm’s collaborative culture and working environment allow each project to be shaped by this expertise. Furthermore, the firm holds long standing relationships with experts in various other fields, such as architecture or civil engineering, that are drawn upon as needed to create the most appropriate team for any special considerations arising within any particular project. Client Focus and Proactive Communication - Each project’s success is measured by the firm’s ability to meet client’s project requirements. At the early stage of each project, a Project Plan will be created by the Project Manager. A key component of the Project Plan will be a clear, documented, and updated understanding of the client’s project requirements and the associated strategies. Even with small projects, the Project Plan is maintained throughout the entire project and reviewed at project closeout to ensure your project requirements have been met. |
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| Integrated design is a cornerstone of M.E. GROUP / design+green’s approach to the delivery of sustainable, high performance, healthy buildings. It is best accomplished through a holistic process in which multiple disciplines and seemingly unrelated aspects of design are integrated in a manner that permits synergistic benefits to be realized. With this approach, a team can achieve form, function, efficiency, comfort and health benefits at a total cost that is lower than the sum of the components configured individually. The use of technology is a critical tool in effectively analyzing and implementing each integrated design strategy. M.E. GROUP / design+green’s simulation services, that include energy modeling, daylight simulations, and 3-Dimensional Building Informational Modeling (BIM), allow teams to effectively make value decisions and implement solutions that maximize building performance and return on investment. While our clients value our innovation it is fundamental that our designs are practical and delivered with quality. M.E. GROUP / design+green has a dedicated Quality Control (QC) Team that consist of some of the firms most experienced mechanical and electrical engineers. The QC Team is engaged from the outset of the project to identify project requirements and monitor them throughout the project. QC reviews of the design documents are conducted throughout the project at preset milestones. The QC process continues through construction administration where our engineers collaborate with contractors to respond to RFI’s proactively while verifying basis of design is being met through construction. Critical to the delivery of a high performance building is proper evaluation of operational cost and effective management of initial costs. M.E. GROUP / design+green takes seriously the management of construction budgets. With our own construction cost data, drawing on industry cost estimating data, and strong partnerships with estimating professionals, we have developed a strong track record in estimating project construction costs even as early as programming and schematic design. These estimations are critical to evaluating the return on investment from each of the design strategies and alternatives. Time is money. M.E. GROUP / design+green makes a commitment to meeting deadlines. Utilizing a master project schedule and a sophisticated information management program, all project activities for each team member are listed and updated regularly. This schedule lives and breathes with the project and is continuously evolving from the input and maintenance of all team members. M.E. GROUP / design+green is not finished once the building is built. Proper operations and maintenance are critical for owners to realize the return on investment of the whole design and construction process. Commissioning and controls specialist can work closely with building operators and owners for months or years depending on the needs of clients. Buildings are complex. M.E. GROUP / design+green has worked with operators and owners to save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through proper operations and maintenance. |
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