Ypsilanti municipal buildings go green to save green

With $250,000 tucked away and three years planned, the city of Ypsilanti is hoping to reduce its energy use and costs in its buildings.Director of Public Services Stan Kirton said the first projects will be the low-hanging fruit, the relatively cheap, relatively easy efforts that provide a fast return which can then be invested in future projects. The first tasks will be replacing lighting in the buildings to more energy-efficient bulbs, and replacing the 40-year-old windows at the fire department."We're hoping to save energy and reduce our carbon footprint," Kirton says.Although they didn't get the grant money they'd hoped for, city council still earmarked funds to get the program going. Projects to come later on include motion-sensor lighting and heating and cooling upgrades, mostly to replace old technology. "We're going to try to upgrade some of our equipment to a higher efficiency," Kirton says.He says when windows were traded out at the senior center, the reduction in drafts was noticeable right away. The fire and police stations are also a priority because those are occupied 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Kirton says he hopes to save 20 percent in the city’s energy's costs by changing out the lighting, and offset future rising energy costs with the other improvements."As technology improves, and the funds are available, we'll definitely continue to look for ways to save," he says. "It's a fiscal responsibility to our residents and to the community. And we're trying to sustain the environment. We're hoping by the city doing this, it'll serve as an example to other businesses and residents to follow suit, think about it and plan some energy efficient project of their own."Source: Stan Kirton, director of public services for the city of YpsilantiWriter: Kristin Lukowski