12/02/24 - 90 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/5xpcbut8
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PUC Sustainable Energy Board To Highlight Sustainable Energy Projects December 7
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A green hotel in Philadelphia, a solar photovoltaic system on a science pavilion at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, aiding economic development in the Lehigh Valley with green jobs, exploring energy efficiency in Berks Co. and other sustainable energy projects across Pennsylvania will be showcased at the December 7 meeting of the PUC's Sustainable Energy Board. Sustainable energy, as this type of energy is termed, deals with energy sources which are all renewable: solar, water, wind, and geothermal power. These sources provide not only an alternative and green energy, they also rely on sources that are readily available and ensure the energy needs of future generations.
The projects, like the funds themselves, cross each corner of the state.
The Reinvestment Fund/PECO Electric Co.
The Reinvestment Fund Sustainable Development Fund, which covers the PECO Electric Co. service territory, has received $20.5 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to capitalize a state-wide building energy loan program.
The funding came in three separate awards – from the City of Philadelphia, from the Department of Environmental Protection and from the U.S. Department of Energy. The three awards have different geographic coverage and have fashioned a single building energy loan program that is operating across Pennsylvania.
With one of these loans, the Homewood Suites Extended Stay Hotel will be a new 10-story building in West Philadelphia that will consume 25 percent less energy than allowed by the current building energy code.
The 136-room building will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
TRF financial support included a $1.6 million energy loan and a much larger new markets tax credit financing. The total project budget is $50 million.
West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund
The West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund will help to support the acquisition and installation of a solar photovoltaic system as part of a capital project to expand and renovate the Sis and Herman Dupre Science Pavilion for the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Computing at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
The $100,000 grant will help to offset the cost of a 20 kWh photovoltaic system. The panels generate an estimated 30,000 kWh annually and were purchased from Solar Power Industries in western Pennsylvania. The science pavilion is being constructed as a green building with the goal of achieving a Gold rating under the LEED system.
By supplying clean, renewable energy to the building, the photovoltaic system will help to reduce the carbon footprint of the science pavilion and will serve as a model for adaptation and replication at other colleges and universities, businesses, and organizations.
PPL Electric Utilities Inc. Sustainable Energy Fund
The 2010 Sustainable Energy Conference was the focus of the PPL Electric Utilities Inc. Sustainable Energy Fund. The conference was held July 14-16, 2010, at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The industry's top sustainable energy trainers led pre-conference boot camps in solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind energy and energy efficiency.
The conference focused on green jobs, economic development and education and included over 60 seminars and more than 50 speakers. The conference also included an expo, which featured exhibits from local and regional energy efficiency and renewable energy generation contractors.
Berks County Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies/ Met-Ed and Penelec
Berks County Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, through its Met-Ed/Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund, recently partnered with eCap Network to help mid-size organizations, nonprofits and municipal governments in the utility's service territory navigate the complexities of energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities.
eCap identifies sustainable energy solutions that maximize energy and resource efficiencies. eCap Network takes organizations through the following process:
-- Meets with the organization to determine its energy needs;
-- Performs an energy audit of the organization;
-- Presents a detailed report of an estimated project cost, as well as a time line;
-- Outlines any available funding or investments available for the project;
-- Assists the organization in financing the project; and
-- Gives a report to the organization with the environmental and economic impact of the project.
The PASEB was originally established by the Commission in 1999 to provide oversight, guidance and technical assistance to the regional sustainable energy boards that fund projects such as wind farms, solar power systems, smart thermostat programs and the construction of buildings using energy efficient technologies.
On August 7, 2003, the Commission issued an order further defining the role of the PASEB. That order charged the PASEB with holding an annual meeting; enhancing communications among the four funds and state agencies; and establishing bylaws and a "best business practices" model.
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12/6/2010 |
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