Ann Arbor lights up with LEDs, solar, Energy Challenge Month

A tip for Ann Arbor residents wanting to cut emissions during Ann Arbor's Energy Challenge Month while keeping a modicum of driveway sanity: Try electric snow throwers, an eco-friendly option to CO²-spewing engine-powered snow blowers.

The first annual Energy Challenge is asking residents to cut their carbon footprints by 5% this month.

"It doesn't sound like a huge number but if we were able to do just 2% [reduction] each year we would get ourselves to 80% below 2000 emissions by 2050, and that's where the science says we need to get," says Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the city of Ann Arbor.

As of press time, over 100 people had registered to log their eco-saving actions each week on the Energy Challenge website, which then calculates the shrinking footprint of those deeds. Those activities are experimental and open-ended in some ways, Brix says. "It's everything from inflating your tires to taking the bus to buying local food to just as simple as turning your thermostat down."

While February is the month for residents to show off their numbers, CO² savings is a year-round blitzkrieg for the city's energy department. In other project updates, the LED lights are in at Cobblestone Farm, Mack Pool, and fire stations 1 and 6. The exterior lights at the Wheeler Service Center are also in, with the exception of the fueling canopy. And over the course of last summer and fall, the city installed 250 LED streetlights in residential neighborhoods, Brix says. Bids came in last week for another 500 of those lights to be installed this summer along commercial corridors such as Stadium Blvd, Washtenaw, and Maple Rd.

By this summer, the shade structure that's being installed at Veterans Pool deck will be topped with solar panels. "Instead of just putting a fabric covering or a roof on it or something like that, we're going to use  solar so that we actually make use of the sunlight that hits that," Brix explains. Solar hot water and photovoltaics at Fire Station 6 are also planned for the warm months.

Source: Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the city of Ann Arbor
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar