Joshua Rubin:
Rain Barrels Catch Storm
Water.

jews d

in
the

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

continued from page 10

When barrels of Mediterranean
began working with food
olives and pickles reach
manufacturers to collect empty
American shores, they could
55-gallon drums, fit them with
wind up in landfills
nozzles and openings
— or they can have
for downspouts and
a second life saving
sell or give them away
water and keep-
across Metro Detroit. In
ing our Great Lakes
2016, he partnered with
clean when they are
the Sierra Club Great
repurposed into rain
Lakes Program and
barrels.
the Detroit Riverfront
Joshua Rubin
Conservancy to cre-
Joshua Rubin
of Farmington
ate a scholarship to
Hills wants more
give away rain barrels
Detroiters to “disconnect from
to deserving organizations
their downspouts” that send
and urban farms in Detroit.
storm water down the drain
This summer, he showed off
and overtax our sewers, lakes
his products at the Michigan
and rivers. Instead, he advo-
Jewish Food Festival at the
cates storing the water in the
Eastern Market.
rain barrels he designs for his
The MiRainBarrel brand cen-
company, MiRainBarrel.com.
ters around easy-to-assemble
Rubin comes from a family of rain barrel kits. In the seven
barrel makers. His great-grand- years he’s been in business,
father Charley Rubin founded
Rubin also has developed prod-
Detroit Beer and was once a
ucts such as compost tumblers
wooden barrel cooper who dis-
and vertical gardening contain-
tributed barrels to bootleggers
ers. Each product is designed
from Windsor to Chicago during with conservation in mind and
Prohibition.
helps fulfill the company mis-
Seven years ago, Rubin
sion of providing customers

continued on page 15

Shari Stein:
Design With Green Solutions.

Bud Liebler, Jim Newman and
Andy Levin look at lighting
that will become more energy
efficient with LED bulbs.

lent of 246,994 pounds of coal each year. And, come this winter,
instead of patrons seeking a warmer table away from drafty win-
dows, the only chill they may feel is from the passing of David
Whitney’s ghost.
Bud Liebler, owner of the Whitney, secured $863,130 in PACE
financing at a 20-year fixed rate to revamp the building’s energy
efficiency. The PACE project involves replacing a patchwork of
heating and cooling systems installed over the many decades
since the 123-year-old mansion’s 21 fireplaces ceased providing
its heat, LED lights throughout, efficient storm enclosures on
more than 200 windows, the latest building control systems and
high-efficiency cooking equipment. The Whitney puts no money
down and will pay back the loan through a special property tax
assessment. (See box on PACE.)
“All these green-friendly upgrades are a huge cost for a small
business,” Liebler said. “The PACE program enables us to take it
on on a cash-flow positive basis. We couldn’t do this all at once
any other way. Besides actually making the restaurant more
energy efficient, we’ll have the added benefit of being able to
promote ourselves as green. That’s another big plus in today’s
environmentally sensitive market.”
While the Whitney may be the highest-profile business to
enroll in PACE, Andy Levin, founder and president of Lean &

continued on page 14

12

October 5 • 2017

jn

shipping containers into afford-
Whether teaching courses as
able housing.
she did in the past at Lawrence
All the while, Stein
Technological
guides clients on the
University in
benefits of simplifying
Southfield or guiding
one’s lifestyle to get by
clients on projects
with less.
as principal partner
Through function
at DesignTeam Plus
and form, Stein said
& Team4Community
her firm uses the most
L3C in Birmingham,
conservation-conscious
Shari Stein has always
materials possible, from
worked at keeping
Shari Stein
repurposed hardwoods
renewable energy
to recycled glass, bottle
solutions and sustain-
able architecture practices at the caps and metal as well as paints
free of volatile organic com-
forefront of each new project.
pounds.
Stein and her design and
“Through implementing sus-
architecture team are committed
to creating healthy environments tainable practices, we look out
for the client’s bottom line while
with consideration to universal
design principles and sustainable keeping the global picture in
mind on how our designs impact
materials.
the environment,” Stein said.
The award-winning
“As a design and architecture
firm’s projects include one
firm, we are committed to be
brewery in Boyne City in an old
very mindful of what goes into
railway station and another in
Lyon Township using repurposed our landfills. The more build-
plaster lath and barn siding. The ing materials we can repurpose
and the less that goes into our
firm also designed the green-
landfills, the healthier planet we
house at Yad Ezra in Berkley,
and has joined the “little house” leave behind.” •
housing trend by repurposing

