First-Ever Center For Green Technology Established At Harrisburg Area Community College

Mayor Stephen R. Reed and HACC President Edna V. Baehre this week announced the establishment of a first-ever institute for the development, teaching and application of green technologies.

 

Mayor Reed said the joint venture will help position the city in the vanguard of places in the nation for 21st Century jobs and information related to environmental advances focused on sustainability, alternative energy, energy conservation, and green practices and policies.

 

The innovative initiative, to be known as the Green Center of Central Pennsylvania, will be housed in the new Campus Square Building at N. Third and Reily Streets, now under construction, and will also provide green services and information for businesses and for consumers.

 

The Center is the result of a unique public-private partnership consisting of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, the City of Harrisburg, and GreenWorks Development. The Mayor and President Baehre were joined by Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphing), Dauphin County Commissioners Nick DiFrancesco, and George Hartwick, Tracey Vernon, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection Office of Community Revitalization and Local Government Support, along with a host of other midstate academic, environmental, civic and business leaders for the formal announcement of the project.

 

"The Green Center of Central Pennsylvania is intended to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to alternative energies and sustainable technologies," said Mayor Reed. "The Center will become a hub for education, training and information related to the application of green technologies and practices in the region. The Center will receive a share of the city’s federal stimulus conservation funds, and the city will assist both the Green Center and the college in obtaining additional federal grant funds," the Mayor noted.

 

"This is one of the most innovative and substantive steps toward the integration of alternative energy technologies into our economy as exists in the Commonwealth today," said Tracey Vernon. Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection Office of Community Revitalization and Local Government Support. "We are delighted with the concept and the planned educational, business and public elements of the Green Center, and think it will be a model institution for colleges, the private sector, and government."

 

‘HACC is very pleased to partner with the city and GreenWorks Development in establishing the Green Center," said HACC President Edna V. Baehre. "HACC will be developing both credit and workforce training curriculum in an array of green technologies that will be housed and taught at the Center, including solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and conservation disciplines, with enrollees either earning Associate Degrees or related certifications."

 

Baehre said HACC will begin offering courses in green and sustainable technologies and alternative energies this year, along with the basic course work required. The curriculum will be expanded in 2010 to include Solar and Wind Installation, Maintenance and Repair, Green Building Management, Home Energy Installation, Recycling and Reclamation, Water Treatment and Auto Conversion. The initial course will accept up to 300 students.

 

Baehre said the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the environmental sector is expected to become a $27 billion market by 2020, and more than 250,000 newly trained workers will need to be recruited and trained to meet the growing demand for green construction workers. Other research indicates that approximately 2.7 million workers will be needed for the wind and solar industries alone over the next decade.

 

Mayor Reed said, "There is now a long overdue understanding and focus on our nation rapidly moving forward to a new economy with alternative energy and green technologies interwoven into the daily lives of citizens and businesses.

 

"The places where these technologies are developed and where the workforce is trained in them will be the places that attract the research, investment and jobs of this new economy. Harrisburg will be one of these places as a result of this and related initiatives," the Mayor stated.

 

The new Green Center of Central Pennsylvania will be headed by Jill A. Gaito, former Deputy Secretary of the state Deptartment of Environmental Protection for Community Revitalization and Local Government Support. Prior to public service, Ms. Gaito worked in the private sector as a consultant in a variety of technical, economic development, and management roles.

 

Funding for the new Center is being provided by it’s partners, with additional funding support coming from federal, state and local grants. The City of Harrisburg is providing a portion of its economic stimulus funding for energy conservation to the project.

 

"This is as cutting edge as it gets," said Mayor Reed, "and we know it is going to be successful." Reed said the purpose of the Center is really fourfold:

 

-- Education – Degree and non-degree classes in green subjects ranging from solar photovoltaic installation to green building design;

 

-- Training –Customized training, workforce development, and consulting on the implementation of green technologies;

 

-- Application – "Green" related firms in the midstate will be recruited to work with each other and the Center on green community projects and buildings in the area and to participate in the Center’s educational mission; and

 

-- Information – The Center will serve as a public resource for accurate, up-to-date information about green technologies and sustainability, including costs, practicality and availability. The Center will host regular public information seminars and sessions on green technologies and practices.

 

GreenWorks Development Chief Executive Officer Doug Neidich said he was thrilled to be able to play a part in the founding of the Center, and noted that it was "very appropriate for the new Green Center to be housed in one of the ‘greenest’ buildings in Central Pennsylvania."

 

The host Campus Square Building is heated and cooled by forty-eight 400 foot deep geothermal wells, and a portion of the building’s electric demand will be provided by one of the largest rooftop electrical generating solar panel arrays in the mid-state. The building is designed to attain Gold LEED certification upon completion.