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Mayor Michael A. Nutter has ambitious goals for Philadelphia, transforming it into America’s greenest city through their nationally recognized Greenworks sustainability plan.
the oldest, facing many of the problems presented by an aging infrastructure. But we are also benefited in this regard by our dense, walkable plan, extensive public transit system, and our energy ef- ficient row home building stock. As the current economic crisis has displayed, these are core strengths that can con- tribute to a community’s resiliency and create a strong foundation for success around our Greenworks goals. Below are example initiatives dem-
onstrating Greenworks’ focus on eco- nomic sustainability, and our ability to leverage partnerships.
RETROFIT PHILLY “COOLEST BLOCK” CONTEST
Through a partnership between the city, Dow Chemical Company, and the En- ergy Coordinating Agency, we launched a citywide contest to bring neighbors together to compete to win an energy- saving cool roof and other energy con- servation products, such as air sealing and insulation, for their entire block. The contest is not only a great public-private partnership, but raises the profile of en- ergy efficiency and the benefits of cool roofs for Philly’s 450,000 row homes.
REGIONAL COORDINATION
We have a well-developed foundation of residential weatherization programs but are now focused on how to bring those programs to scale. We have identified limited access to capital as a primary barrier to energy efficiency projects, both residential and commercial. We submitted a regional EECBG Competi- tive Application in collaboration with the five surrounding counties; the core mis- sion of our application is to rapidly scale up three proven programs that have both existing delivery mechanisms for deep retrofits and identified projects in the pipeline. The innovation and growth that this funding would provoke lies in the projected establishment of powerful new
links between these retrofit programs and private capital pools, small business growth, workforce development, and the emergence of a regional energy efficien- cy technology sector.
GREENWORKS LOAN FUND
Blending EECBG funds and private capi- tal, in January we launched the Green- works Loan Fund. A partnership between the city’s economic development agency, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), and the nonprofit lender The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), the Fund is dedicated to funding energy ef- ficiency improvements in commercial, industrial, institutional, and public build-
ings. The objective of the Fund is to promote energy efficiency and conservation, create/ retain jobs, st imulate economic development, and leverage private in- vestment.
EXPANDING CURRENT LOW INCOME HOUSING WEATHERIZATION EFFORTS
While the city has a history of successful weather ization pro- grams, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Philadelphia ex- pects to receive more than twice the amount of money that it has histor ical ly spent on weather ization in a given year. This inf lux of new money will re- quire a sea change in how the work is carried out. In this process, we are making connec- t ions between local workforce training pro- grams and the private contractors and non- profit groups that will
perform this work. All told, these efforts will enable Philadelphia to meet Green- works’ target of 100,000 houses retrofit- ted by 2015. Ultimately, our intention is to build
on our assets and address our barriers to position Philadelphia as a growing mod- ern green city in the emerging energy economy. We are guided by a core be- lief that the cities that will not only sur- vive, but thrive, in the coming era will be those that have embraced sustainability in the fullest and most integrated sense of the term. Greenworks is the roadmap we have developed to set this course. PE
To learn more about Greenworks and its sustainability goals, visit
www.phila.gov/green/greenworks/.
Local Action Moves the World •
www.icleiusa.org
PLANET EARTH \\ LESSONS FROM PHILADELPHIA
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