Brewery Vivant gets Silver LEED certification

Brewery Vivant, a local brewpub that recently made news for being featured in Midwest Living Magazine, is making news again with their announcement today of receiving Silver LEED certification.

The brewery is the first commercial brewery in the United States that has been awarded the certification. "We feel that this story has national significance in regard to craft -brewing, the environment and sustainability; something that many people involved with Vivant have been striving toward for many months," said Rick Muschiana, an "Abbott of Beer" at Brewery Vivant who is responsible for general brand management.

Husband and wife duo Jason and Kris Spaulding started the brewery in an old funeral chapel and have considered the business's impact on the environment from the beginning. “After researching the full environmental impact of canning [versus] bottling it was an easy decision once the data was in front of us. Not only are the cans better for the environment but our beer will actually taste better out of a can as the beer is better protected from the negative effects of sunlight and oxygen,” said Jason Spaulding.

“Being a sustainable company means being concerned about more than just the bottom line. When we make decisions we weigh the impacts on our community as well as the environment,” said Kris Spaulding, who is the sustainability director at the brewery, in addition to co-owning the business. 

The official LEED plaque will be dedicated by Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell at a ceremony taking place at the Brewery Vivant Pub on February 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Muschiana said that this award is "a major milestone here at Brewery Vivant."