A trailer showcasing energy efficient technology rolled through the Lansing area Thursday, making a stop on MSU’s campus.
The Mobile Classroom of Sustainable Technologies provides simulations of green technology, ranging from fuel cell technology to a geothermal heating display, said Marcus Metoyer, Jr., a specialist-teacher with the School of Planning, Design & Construction.
The trailer is primarily sponsored by the United Association, an international association of journeymen, apprentice plumbers, heating-ventilation-air conditioning technicians and pipe fitters. It’s also sponsored by the Mechanical Service Contractors of America, or MSCA, said John Reilly Jr., of the UA Local 333.
It was the UA Local 333, along with the Mid-Michigan Mechanical Contractors Association, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 665, MSCA and the National Electrical Contractors Association that brought the trailer to the Lansing area, Reilly said.
“We understand how important the green campaign is to MSU,” he said. “This green trailer shows renewable and green energy sources. It’s an opportunity for individuals, students and faculty to see the different sorts.”
The trailer was introduced in March of 2008 with the intention of keeping people who work on mechanical systems, employers and others in the industry updated on new technology as well as to get people interested in green technologies, said Barbara Dolim, the executive director of MSCA.
The goal of bringing the trailer to Lansing was to reach out to the community, said Jean Morgan, a member of the committee who helped bring the trailer to the Lansing area and the director of marketing for T.H. Eifert Mechanical Contractors.
“There was a constant flow of bus loads of students and people from the community,” Morgan said of the stop the trailer made at Lansing Community College and the Capitol earlier this week.
“In the last couple of days, I have been able to feel where people’s hearts are in the green movement,” Reilly said. “I spoke with hundreds of students and explained to them that they should educate themselves and that its going to be their generation that is going to embrace and implement green practices.”
East Lansing Mayor Victor Loomis was among the students, faculty and members of the community who stopped by to check out the trailer.
“It’s impressive,” Loomis said. “There is some technology that I wasn’t aware of like the tidal (generators).”
As for next year, Morgan says that the goal is to bring the trailer back.
“I think people are more eager to learn about green,” she said.
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