PA Green Growth Partnership: Promoting the Design and Construction of “Green Buildings”
As the real environmental impact of buildings becomes more apparent, the field of “green building” is rapidly gaining momentum–and the PA Green Growth Partnership (PAGGP) is at the forefront of this forward-thinking revolution.
The PAGGP promotes economic development through the design and construction of green buildings and the development of energy-saving building materials, products and technologies. In late 2006, statewide expansion of the Philadelphia University-based Consortium for Sustainable Design led to the formation of PAGGP. The PAGGP focuses on technologies that minimize the energy impact of buildings, including the adoption of protocols such as Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED), and will be a key asset in PA’s new Energy Independence Initiative. Ben Franklin Technology Partners acted as advisor for the funding proposal, which has granted the PAGGP a total of $2 million.
“Green building is the practice of creating and using healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance and demolition,” says Rob Fleming, co-director of PAGGP. “From site location to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction, PAGGP takes a big picture view of building projects, products and processes and seeks to deploy the latest technologies to minimize environmental impact and energy consumption.” Fleming is also an associate professor of architecture at Philadelphia University and director of the M.S. in Sustainable Design program.
Over the past year, PAGGP has assisted 120 businesses, with projects ranging from making duct work more efficient and making building materials from wheat gluten to assisting the factory-built architecture industry to become greener.
Green Buildings Become Commercially Viable
Green buildings are becoming increasingly more common as clients, builders and designers are discovering that it is less costly than expected and also increasingly easier to achieve from a technical standpoint. We are in the midst of a vast industrial revolution, where companies, organizations, institutions and individuals are fundamentally changing their relationships to the environment, to energy and to money. The concept of the triple bottom line–people, profits and planet–is forcing companies to reassess their core missions and ultimately causing a fundamental shift in the basic economic structures that are currently in place
PAGGP is attracting new green building ventures to the state by demonstrating leadership in green building design and materials and sustainable development technologies.
PAGGP is attracting new green building ventures to the state by demonstrating leadership in green building design and materials and sustainable development technologies. The partnership will help retain Pennsylvania’s existing building product manufacturers by helping them to benefit from the growing market for green products. By facilitating technological innovation and commercialization of new products and techniques through research grants and industry-university collaborations, the partnership will create jobs by connecting building-product manufacturing companies with new markets on the national and international stage.
A Thriving Partnership
Partners in PAGGP include Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Carnegie Mellon University, Delaware Valley Green Building Council, Green Building Alliance, Penn State University, Philadelphia University, Temple University, University of Pittsburgh and Villanova University.
BFTP works with the PAGGP to identify potential client and partner companies. BFTP helped Landmark Building Systems Inc., a former portfolio company, to partner with Philadelphia University, resulting in a $100,000 grant for the development of green commercial modular construction technologies. Recently, with BFTP’s help, Philadelphia University conducted an integrated design charrette to assist the CS Group, a Pennsylvania Company, in the creation of new, more sustainable products for hospital interiors.
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