Press Releases

For Immediate Release
Jim Rink, Nancy Cain
AAA Michigan
1-313-336-1513/1514
Date Posted: Jan. 22, 2008

AAA MICHIGAN REDEDICATES NEW ‘GREEN’ BRANCH OFFICE

DEARBORN, Mich. — AAA Michigan's brand new Birmingham branch is taking the LEED® when it comes to building "green."

The branch will celebrate its grand reopening from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, at 34802 Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, Mich. AAA has had a branch at this location since 1954, but the old facility was recently demolished to make way for a new building at the same location — the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building in the city.

LEED® is a green-building rating system established by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The new Birmingham branch has already earned recognition for its decision to build "green." The Southeast Michigan Chapter of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has selected the Birmingham branch as its "2007 Building of the Year."

"The new design meets our vision to build green by choice," said Greg Demanski, director of Real Estate Services for AAA Michigan. "We now have an integrated design approach to optimize a building's environmental sustainability, performance and cost savings. Building green by choice supports our core values as a responsible corporate citizen in each of our service communities."

According to Demanski, the new branch will yield reduced energy bills and healthier employees.

The LEED® building offers many benefits. It:

• Uses energy, water, materials and land more efficiently.
  
• Creates appealing environments for members and staff with more natural light and cleaner air to improve occupant health, comfort and productivity.
  
• Achieves efficiencies in energy, water use and lower operating and maintenance costs.
  
• Obtained materials from local areas to reduce air emissions and petroleum consumption.
  
• Recycled demolition waste and used conscientious construction methods to divert waste material from landfills.
  
• Uses renewable products to promote sustainability and specifies low- emission paints, sealants and adhesives to improve indoor air quality.

"We look forward to serving our members in this state-of-the-art facility," said Birmingham Branch Manager Marilyn Bennett. "We think our members will be very pleased with our new branch."

AAA Michigan has 43 full-service branches throughout the state. The Birmingham branch employs 26 people and offers automobile, travel, insurance and financial services to more than 18,000 AAA members.

AAA's array of services and products includes 24-hour Emergency Road Service, special member-only savings at thousands of retailers on auto, home, dining, travel and sports products and services.

Special events will mark the official grand opening for employees and members throughout the day on Friday.

AAA's "Ready ... Set ... Winter" seminar will review winter driving skills (10 to 11 a.m.). There will be safety displays and Child ID available. Members and visitors can also discover what kind of discounts are available from AAA's Show Your Card and Save® retail partners, discover dozens of vacation specials from AAA Travel Agency and enter for a chance to win a AAA gift certificate.

Refreshments will be provided. For more information, call 800-222-4419 or visit the Web site at http://www.aaa.com/.
 
For more information about the Southeastern Michigan Chapter of IFMA, visit www.ifmasemichigan.org.

IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,000 members in 60 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 15 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than $100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition. For more information, visit www.ifma.org.