Engagement
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TARGET 15
PHILADELPHIANS UNITE TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Greenworks sets ambitious but achievable goals. We can become the greenest city in America, but getting there requires the shared commitment and efforts of dedicated Philadelphians working on the ground in the city’s neighborhoods and communities. Below you’ll find a few of the many (many!) great examples of Philadelphia residents, businesses, and institutions helping make Greenworks a success.
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Greenworks Rebate Program Helps Small Businesses Save Energy
Tracy and Mia Levesque started YIKES, a Philadelphia web design and development company, 15 years ago. When they were looking for a new location in 2010, they chose a pair of vacant buildings on East Girard Avenue and set out to renovate them to the LEED Platinum standard. With the help of local design-build firm Greensaw and support from the Greenworks Rebate Program, which matched their investments in high-efficiency systems, the sustainable reuse project will use 30% less energy and save over $2,500 annually. -
True Tales: EnergyWorks
When EnergyWorks rolled out last fall, Grid Magazine contributor Samantha Wittchen wanted to show Philadelphia residents how easy it is take advantage of the program. In a five-part blog series titled True Tales: An EnergyWorks Examination, Samantha details the EnergyWorks process from application through energy audit at her 100-year old home. With the results in hand—it’s old! it’s leaky!—Samantha describes the energy conservation measures and financing options available to her through EnergyWorks, helping others understand how to get started in their own homes. -
Twenty Neighborhoods Collaborate to Recycle 1,697 Christmas Trees
On January 9, 2011, 20 Philadelphia civic and nonprofit organizations joined together with local companies Shechtman Tree Care and Bartlett Tree Experts to recycle Christmas trees. Together the organizations saved 1,697 trees around the city from the landfill and supplied volunteer groups with tree chippings to use in local dog runs, community gardens, and parks. The event set a great precedent for citywide civic collaboration and raised awareness around Philadelphia about how residents can creatively reuse products instead of sending them to the landfill. -
Walnut Hill Community Farm
In spring 2010 the Walnut Hill Community Farm, which includes a community garden, urban farm, and pocket park, broke ground. The project is managed by Philly Rooted, in partnership with The Enterprise Center Community Development Corporation, on a site owned by SEPTA adjacent to the 46th Street El Station in West Philadelphia. The Walnut Hill Grower’s Cooperative runs the site’s urban farm. Neighborhood youth self-manage the Co-op where they grow fresh, natural produce that they sell at local markets. The Co-op provides supplemental income to the growers and supplies produce in underserved communities. The farm also manages stormwater from the roof of the SEPTA station by collecting it in an eleven hundred gallon cistern attached to a solar powered water pump that distributes water throughout the site. -
Sustainability at the Philadelphia Zoo
The Philadelphia Zoo, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2009, has set out to be a leader in sustainable operating practices among zoos and aquariums. The Zoo has reduced its water usage by over 50% since 2008 and in 2010 became the second facility in the City to install waterless urinals. The Zoo uses a geothermal system to heat and cool two of its largest facilities, fuels another heating system entirely with recycled cooking oil, and plans to break ground on its first LEED certified building during the summer of 2011. -
Thomas Jefferson University’s Renewable Energy Commitment
Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital receives over one third of its electricity from the Locust Ridge Wind Power Project in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. In 2009 Jefferson and five other regional healthcare centers agreed to purchase power from the Locust Ridge Project, owned by Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., at a fixed price for 10 years. Jefferson has an on-going energy conservation and efficiency program and has implemented $18 million of projects to date. Jefferson also is evaluating cutting edge projects including a large-scale energy storage facility on its campus, which will allow Jefferson to optimize its use of renewable energy. -
Community College of Philadelphia’s Green Expansion
As part of the Community College of Philadelphia’s (CCP) commitment to energy conservation and sustainability, the school is renovating its Northeast Regional Center (NERC) and Main Campus using the latest environmentally friendly building materials and construction techniques. The NERC project, completed in spring 2011, was built to meet the LEED Gold standard and includes geothermal heating and cooling, a stormwater retention system, daylighting, and a green roof. CCP is also planning an expansion on its Main Campus at 17th and Spring Garden Streets, including a new Pavilion building that they expect will also receive LEED Gold certification.
