JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Crews installs a wind turbine at the YMCA of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The project also will include the installation of solar panels on the roof of the YMCA building.

Crews worked Monday to install a wind turbine at the YMCA at Virginia Tech that is part of a project to investigate the feasibility of wind energy in an urban environment and to serve as an educational tool about alternative energy sources, project officials said.

The 600-watt turbine is expected to be up and running by May, said Cortney Martin, a faculty member at Virginia Tech who is also involved with the project.

The project also will include the installation of solar panels on the roof of the YMCA building at 1000 N. Main St. so officials can compare the energy generated from both sources, said Gail Billingsley, executive director of the YMCA.

The committee working on the project includes community members and representatives from the YMCA, the town and Virginia Tech faculty, staff and students.

Billingsley said the project fits into the YMCA's work with sustainability projects. Other YMCA efforts include recycling programs and the opening last fall of a community solar greenhouse at the Hale-YMCA Community Gardens.

The turbine project received a $15,000 community action grant from Virginia Tech's Office of the Vice President for Research in April 2009 and the past year was spent researching different types of urban low-wind turbines, Billingsley said.

The grant and some private donations were used to buy equipment and supplies. The turbine is from Urban Green Energy in New York, and the 1,050-watt solar panels were donated by Solar Connexion of Blacksburg.

Solar Connexion and Bell Electric have also donated equipment, time and personnel for the project, said Martin, who also is the course coordinator for Tech's Earth Sustainability course series.

The vertical axis wind turbine will be installed on an 18-foot pole on a 4-foot base at the YMCA.

Project officials said the turbine is a test to see how suitable the technology is for this area and to offer the community a chance to learn more about using wind as an energy source.

The Virginia Wind Energy Collaborative estimates that investing in 1,000 megawatts of wind energy in the state could result in $1.2 billion in economic benefits, a reduction of 3 million tons of carbon dioxide and a savings of 1.6 billion gallons of water, according to the Blacksburg turbine project Web site at www.blacksburgwindpower.com.

Town officials also will be taking note of the turbine use as officials work on drafting zoning regulations for wind and solar alternative energy in the town, said Anne McClung, Blacksburg's planning and building director.

McClung said project representatives have worked with the town on the turbine, which required building permits for the installation.

"They did obtain the appropriate permits, and we have been onsite doing inspections," McClung said.

She said the YMCA is the first group to approach the town about a wind turbine use.

"We saw it as a good way to partner with them so we could be learning about the installation of a wind turbine along with the community," she said.

McClung said town staff is at the beginning stages of drafting zoning regulations for alternative energy sources, including researching what is done in other communities.

She also said community input will be sought for Blacksburg's regulations through meetings and workshops sometime this year.