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Green Building United’s new executive director talks climate, health and equity

This month Green Building United (GBU), a regional organization that fosters transformative impact in communities through green building education and advocacy, announced Rich Freeh as the organization’s new executive director. Before taking the position, Freeh spent seven and a half years with the Philadelphia Office of Sustainability working on clean energy planning and sustainability reporting.

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8 mins read

New Legislation Facilitates Energy Efficiency Improvements

It isn’t cheap to make a large commercial building more energy efficient. Even when improvements will eventually pay for themselves, that timeframe can be longer than owners plan to hold onto the building, according to Philadelphia City Councilmember Derek Green. With no prospect to recoup the upfront expenses, building owners often decide not to invest

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1 min read
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Concerned about accelerating climate change, activists at the Clean Air Council are pushing Amtrak to reverse its switch from steam power to gas boilers

Since Philadelphia’s 30th Street Amtrak Station announced in late March that it would switch from steam power to gas boilers, activists have been pushing back on the station’s claims that the move aligns with a sustainable future for the city. “That is simply a false narrative,” Clean Air Council Executive Director Joseph Minott says. “Everyone

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5 mins read

Fossil fuel lobbying threatens decarbonization prospects

Who expected the fossil fuel industry to fight fair? In 2021 12.2% of the energy used in the United States came from renewable sources, as did 20.1% of our electricity generation, according to the US Energy Information Administration. And that is projected to grow. Facing a shrinking share of the energy pie, the fossil fuel

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1 min read
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An advocacy group, citing economic and environmental reasons, pushes for investment in geothermal heating and cooling

It’s been just over six years since Bartram’s Garden made the switch to geothermal heating and cooling, using ground source heat pumps (or GSHP) to heat the public garden’s 18th century buildings. By drilling deep into the ground, geothermal systems tap into heat that is stored in the earth. It greatly reduces the need for

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8 mins read
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