Auto-Owners Insurance Co. and the Dart Foundation are giving the Boys & Girls Club of Lansing $65,000 for a new, 25,000-square-foot energy-efficient roof. The club is located at 4315 Pleasant Grove Rd.
Construction is expected to begin in August, but the roof will not be covered with plants, like a traditional green roof, due to potential ongoing maintenance issues, says Joseph Yang, the club’s director of finance.
Students in the club’s GET (Green Energy Technology) City program are helping research the most energy efficient roof system, which may ultimately include solar panels, Yang says.
About 20 middle and high school students meet weekly with visiting Michigan State University (MSU) professors to learn about information technology as well as math and science.
The students have already put up a GET City web site with links to their video about climate change. GET City is funded with grants from the National Science Foundation, the Dart Foundation and the Capital Region Community Foundation.
Last summer, an urban island project took the students around the city surveying temperature increases due to pavement and buildings.
Once the new roof is installed, the students will track data as to how much the club is saving in energy cost to heat and cool the building, Yang says.
About 200 children ages 7 to 17 attend the Boys & Girls Club during the school year. The number grows to 300 in the summer.
“The Boys & Girls Club is not just a place to play. We have a strong educational program as well,” says Yang.
Source: Joseph Yang, Boys & Girls Club
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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