For Michael Frank, McKinstry’s VP of Engineering & Design, Earth Day is a reminder of personal and professional passion for sustainability.
Every year, Earth Day mobilizes millions of Americans to serve our planet. I’m fortunate to work for a company that celebrates Earth Day each day through the work we do to make every building we touch more efficient. I joined the company more than 19 years ago because my personal passions aligned so well with the company’s values, and I’ve never looked back. To put that statement into context, when I was interviewing, I was wrapping up a thesis design project for a heat recovery system at the Staten Island Ferry System in Manhattan to use the Hudson River as a heat source/sink. Fast forward to today and I’m still designing alternative solutions for energy use such as an eco-district to serve our first zero-energy building, Catalyst, and others on the South Landing campus in Spokane.
I care deeply about our planet, and I’ve been told that sometimes my passion for the environment may come across as extreme. I’ll take that as compliment! So maybe it’s true that I take an air quality monitor on vacation. And maybe I build bee houses every spring with my daughters for one of our native pollinators, the mason bee. Would you be surprised to know, or should I be embarrassed to say that I make sure misplaced recycling finds its way into the appropriate bins at home?
My “extreme” passion for our environment carries over into my work every day where I have the opportunity to innovate with teams to make better decisions that meet current building needs while advocating for the next generation.
