MSU construction management students work to improve energy efficiency at Belle Isle
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EmailEight students from the MSU School of Planning, Design, and Construction Construction Management program worked on a team to assess energy performance and make recommendations for energy improvements to the Belle Isle Boathouse Building.
Eight students from the MSU School of Planning, Design, and Construction Construction Management program worked on a team to assess energy performance and make recommendations for energy improvements to the Belle Isle Boathouse Building. This was part of an ongoing project conducted for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The SPDC has an ongoing partnership with the MDNR entitled the Sustainable Park Planning Project, which engages students and faculty in the Construction Management, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture programs.
Construction Management student research teams have been working since 2014 to provide energy assessments of Belle Isle facilities. The Boathouse Building is the sixth in a series that also includes the former Belle Isle Police station, the White House, the Flynn Pavilion, the Belle Isle Casino and the Police Radio Tower Building.
The student teams gain real-world experience in energy assessment and use the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers energy assessment protocols. The primary purpose of the studies is to develop recommendations for cost-effective energy improvements for the Belle Isle facilities.
Toward this end, the student teams conduct literature reviews, conduct building walk-throughs, take field measurements, conduct conditions assessments, create measured drawings, collect scientific instrumented field data, develop energy model simulations and develop recommendations for cost-effective retrofits.
Through these projects the students gain practical experience in conducting energy assessments, collecting field data and developing energy simulations. The assessments are used by the MDNR as capital improvement plans are needed.
For more information about this project, contact Tim Mrozowski, professor – emeritus of construction management, at mrozowsk@msu.edu.
