I am working with the Southeast Michigan Regional Office at the Suburbs Alliance on its Energy Management Plan and LED Light Initiative. The Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office partners with 26 member local governments to help them save energy and improve the quality of life for residents in their community. Dedicated to fostering and supporting cooperative approaches to the challenges facing Michigan’s metropolitan area, the organization has assisted 4200 southeast Michigan residents make their home more energy efficient. As an intern, I am responsible for communicating with local government staff, collecting energy use data from website interface, transferring energy use data to the energy management planning framework template, customizing Energy Management Planning Framework report for each local government based on their unique needs, creating educational events to provide training to municipal staff on saving energy. By populating the Energy Management Planning Framework for Dearborn, Royal Oak and Ferndale with utility data, we will be able to help local governments identify and implement energy and cost savings opportunities in a more systematic and comprehensive way. In addition, we will use the collected data to coordinate a large scale regional initiative to replace existing municipal street lights with LED technology throughout Metro Detroit over the next five years.
My first week in Detroit has been a very refreshing experience! I visited the Detroit Institute of Arts for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by the variety and quantity of famous art pieces showcased. While trying to reading every art description on the wall, I found myself enter into a new world of history and culture. Detroit is a place of great people, energy and food. After going to the Eastern Market, Honey Bee Market, Cass Café, Melt and Socra Tea, I am so excited to explore more of mid and downtown in the coming weeks!
