Guiding Your Solar Project

Learn all you need to know about installing your own solar power project in Philadelphia with the City’s “Philadelphia Guidebook for Solar PV Projects”.  Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the guidebook is designed to help Philadelphia business owners, developers, contractors and homeowners, navigate through the solar development process – from meeting city codes, to obtaining permits, to identifying available incentives.

Greenworks Energy Pilot Program

Thanks to the Greenworks Pilot Energy Technology (G-PET) Program, funded with $430,000 of federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, companies will be offered a financial incentive to jump start new, energy efficient services and products within the city of Philadelphia. The awards, administered by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), range from $50,000 - $150,000, and are to be used by city-based companies to offset costs associated with implementation of pilot projects. 

West Philly Gets Green and Healthy

The Partnership CDC is launching a new Green and Healthy initiative to help West Philadelphia residents reduce their impact on the environment while revitalizing the local community.

The Healthy Homes portion of the program will supply homeowners with information about energy and money saving techniques, and provide some eligible residents with a green roof for a reduced fee. In addition, the Green Professionals training component of the program will offer green construction training for contactors and local residents. 
  

New Energy Authority Approved

City Council recently passed legislation authorizing the City of Philadelphia to create a municipal energy authority. Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who sponsored the bill, called for the authority as a way to help boost the city’s buying power and develop alternative energy for government use. He envisions the authority spurring alternative energy in the form of solar panels on city buildings. 

Unfortunately, not everyone was on board, as PECO unsuccessfully lobbied against the move.

Mayor's Proposed Budget Impacts on Energy

Mayor Nutter presented his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Address to members of City Council last week.  We’ve looked over the proposed budget to see how it would affect the Next Great City (NGC) actions, and this is what we observed regarding energy:
Energy – Mayor Nutter has proposed a $500,000 budget line to make energy-efficiency improvements to city facilities.  While the NGC recommendation is for the construction of energy-efficient facilities, energy-efficiency improvements of existing buildings is in line with that goal.

Council Votes Unanimously for Cool Roof

City Council unanimously passed Councilman Kenney’s Cool Roof bill, which requires all new construction in the City to use highly reflective roofing materials that meet or exceed Energy Star cool roof standards.

Cool roofs are good for the environment and easy on residents’ wallets.  Installation costs for cool roofs are similar to those of traditional roofs, but create significant energy and maintenance savings.  Their reflectivity typically keeps roofs 50 to 80 degrees cooler than black roofs on hot summer days.  In turn, lower roof temperatures help residents save as much as 20 to 30 percent off their monthly energy bills, and extend the life of the roof.

Philly Gets $25 Million for Energy Efficiency 

Last month, the City of Philadelphia, along with a coalition of public, private, and non-profit partners, was awarded a $25 million federal energy grant from the US Department of Energy. The grant will pay for retrofitting thousands of commercial and residential buildings throughout the greater Philadelphia region. 

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who visited Philadelphia after the grant announcement was made, believes that “this initiative will help overcome the barriers to making energy efficiency easy and accessible to all,” and will make our communities more energy efficient, save families money, create jobs and strengthen our economy.

Peco Purchases 6 Mw of Solar Credit

PECO has signed 10-year agreements to purchase 6 megawatts, or 80,000 solar energy credits, in support of Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS). That’s enough energy to power nearly 1,000 homes for 10 years! Once complete, the company’s purchases could result in the same environmental benefit as planting more than 48,000 acres of trees or not driving more than 133 million miles. 

This new solar purchase is part of a wider package of renewable energy credits that PECO has been amassing since 2008 as part of their effort to meet the AEPS requirement that by 2011. 3.5 percent of the energy sold to PECO customers is generated from renewable resources.

State legislation is now being considered that would almost double the state's AEPS requirements for wind, solar and other clean energy sources. Send a message of support to your legislators.

'Bisco' Energy Radiates to Local School 

Philly jam band the Disco Biscuits has always said that the ‘Bisco’ experience is about more than just the band and its songs. In collaboration with HeadCount, the civic engagement organization that ‘Bisco’ bassist Marc Brownstein co-founded in 2004, the Disco Biscuits are putting talk into action with the Bisco Power Mission, an initiative to outfit Albert M. Greenfield Elementary in Center City with solar power.

Funds for Bisco Power Mission were raised through the sale of limited edition prints by poster artist Ian K. Millard and by ticket sales to a benefit show at New York City's LEED Certified Brooklyn Bowl. Half the proceeds from Bisco Power Mission will go directly toward the purchase of a solar installation for Albert M. Greenfield Elementary school. The other half will help fund HeadCount’s ongoing nonprofit work, including voter registration, issue education and organizing community-oriented projects like Bisco Power Mission.

Philly Makes the List of U.S. Cities with the Most Energy Efficient Buildings

For the second year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a list of the top 25 U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest number of energy efficient buildings that earned EPA’s Energy Star in 2009.  Philadelphia just made it onto the list by tying for the 24th most Energy Star buildings.

Energy efficiency saves building owners money and fights climate change.  In 2009 nearly 3,900 commercial buildings in the United States earned the Energy Star, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of over $100 billion per year. EPA awards the Energy Star to commercial buildings that perform in the top 25 percent of buildings nationwide compared to similar buildings. Thirteen types of buildings can earn the Energy Star, including schools, hospitals, office buildings, retail stores and supermarkets.

Green Building Legislation Becomes Law

On Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Mayor Nutter signed into law legislation introduced by  Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown that would require any new construction or major renovation of large city government buildings be designed, constructed and certified at the silver level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council.

The LEED-silver requirement within Bill No. 080025 applies to construction projects over 10,000 square feet that are primarily funded by City capital dollars and are controlled by the City. The ordinance requires that projects to be designed and constructed use at least 20 percent less energy than basic code-compliant structures. It applies to capital projects undertaken by all departments and agencies across the City, including the Airport, Water Department, and Public Property.

The signing of this law also fulfills a Next Great City recommendation for the city to build energy-efficient buildings! Many thanks to Councilwoman Reynolds Brown and everyone involved in its passage.

Philadelphia Aims to Increase Energy Efficiency

To help meet the Greenworks goal of reducing city government energy consumption by 30 percent by 2015, Mayor Nutter announced that the city will hire NORESCO, an energy service company. They will perform an energy audit on targeted city buildings and to recommend energy conservation measures such as lighting upgrades, energy management systems, water conservation measures, and new chillers and heating boilers, to be installed on the municipality’s behalf.

These improvements can decrease a facility’s energy demand by as much as 20 percent annually, and are paid for with the savings generated by the investments.

Coolest Block Contest

The City of Philadelphia, the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia and the Dow Building & Construction Business Group recently announced a citywide block contest to promote “cool roofs”. Cool roofs have white coatings that - through their reflectivity - typically keep roofs 50 to 80 degrees cooler than black roofs on hot summer days.

Each house on the street that wins the Coolest Block contest will get a white roof, plus insulation, air sealing and an energy audit, estimated to be worth from $3,000 to $3,500 per home. The improvements will also help the Coolest Block winners save money on their monthly energy bills – as much as 20 to 30 percent off their regular bill.

The contest is also a step towards helping Philadelphia meet the Greenworks goal of retrofitting 15 percent of the city's homes with insulation, air sealing and cool roofs.
Further support for cool roofs may be on the way, as Councilman Jim Kenney has proposed legislation that would require cool roofs on all new commercial construction and roof replacements.