One part of the Kirkland City Hall remodeling project has come to fruition after two International Community School students gave a presentation at a city council meeting on solar panels.

Allison Li and Sneha Bharadwaj spoke to the council on June 16, urging them to incorporate solar panels into the remodeling plans. The students told the council increasing numbers of residents are installing panels and some city street lights are solar-powered, so any remodeling projects or new buildings should incorprate solar energy.

The presentation stemmed from a project Li and Bharadwaj worked on for Julia Vasiliauskas’ science class, where they researched ways to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Following the presentation, Mayor Amy Walen encouraged the city staff to investigate incorporating solar panels into the city hall remodel. On Oct. 7, solar panels were installed on the roof of city hall.

“I was super excited that our presentation actually made an environmental impact in our city,” Li wrote in an email. “It’s incredible that a small science project can turn into something as big as installing solar panels in city hall and incorporating a clean energy source.”