LTU aims to make district self-sufficient on energy


BY JOHN GALLAGHER
DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER


Southwest Detroit has always been one of Detroit's most heavily industrialized districts.

Now, thanks in part to innovative planning by students at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, the area is aiming to become one of the city's greenest districts.

The LTU students are participating in a project to make southwest Detroit the city's first net-zero energy community, meaning a district that produces more energy than it actually uses.

One idea would wrap the dilapidated Michigan Central Station in solar panels. Other ideas include connecting energy hubs like the station through a series of bike lanes, mass-transit lines and other green infrastructure.

The ideas might take years, and probably millions of dollars, to achieve. But, if nothing else, the LTU project emphasizes that no single project would be enough to achieve the goal of energy self-sufficiency, said Constance Bodurow, an LTU professor and director of the southwest Detroit project.


Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/2011031.../1002/business