A Model for Sustainability in Center City

Once complete, the $12.5 million renovation of the Center City Philadelphia-based Friends Center will become a model of sustainability for the city. The Quaker organization’s decision to upgrade its facility to become a “green” structure includes, among other things, a new, vegetated roof. The roof will help insulate the three-story building, eliminate about 90 percent of the building's rain runoff, and triple the 25-year life of the new roof. Other changes to the building include the addition of solar panels and a plan to install up to six 1,500-foot-deep geothermal wells under the 15th Street sidewalk that will use groundwater and a heat exchanger to reduce the energy needed to heat and cool the building by almost 40 percent, and holding tanks to reuse rain runoff from the center's adjacent 1856 meetinghouse for toilet flushing. The Kresge Foundation, which encourages green building, awarded the Friends Center with a $75,000 planning grant. In addition, the Friends Center can supplement energy savings by selling energy back to utility companies and receiving solar credits as part of a federal solar incentive program.

UD Professor Highlights Potential Source for Biodiesel

University of Delaware marine biosciences professor, John Gallagher, believes that the seashore mallow could solve a lot of problems, particularly as it proves to be a promising source of biodiesel. The sturdy plant has an oil composition similar to that of soybeans and cottonseed. But unlike soybeans and corn, the pink-flowered seashore mallow is both a perennial and a halophyte, or salt-tolerant plant, that can grow in areas where other crops can not. Gallagher runs UD’s Halophyte Biotechnology Center with his wife and fellow researcher, Denise Seliskar, and points out that in addition to its potential for preserving the economic value of arable land transitioning to marsh land, the meal left over after oil is extracted from mallow seeds has enough protein to be used for animal feed, the stems have potential for use in cellulosic ethanol, and the roots could be used to make industrial gum. In addition, the roots are efficient at sequestering carbon pulled from the atmosphere, making the plant a “carbon-neutral” source of energy. To date, although Gallagher has received some interest and support from other scientists, funding is still an issue. Gallagher has reached out to private industry and is working on a grant proposal for funding from the federal energy and agricultural departments.

Philadelphia Voted one of the Top 10 Greenest Cities

As part of an article written by Treehugger.com, published by MSN City Guides, Philadelphia was listed as one of the country’s Top Ten Greenest Cities. Known for its innovative nature, the city was nominated for several reasons. With nearly one third of its residents using public transportation to get to work and almost 7 percent walking, the city can be easily navigated by public transit, bicycle or on foot. In addition, Philadelphia’s Energy Cooperative is an independent power supplier that sources electricity as locally as possible, buying it from residents who own solar electric systems. “Blended with electricity generated from wind and other renewable sources, the Energy Cooperative sells clean power to some 1,500 residents thanks to the city’s deregulated electricity market. For those wanting to generate their own, city and federal tax incentives will pay for up to 60 percent of solar electric and hot water systems.”