Energy efficiency remains a giant opportunity for building resilient cities Illustration: James Heimer By Alex Dews Over the past 15 years, the Philadelphia region has been deeply involved in a national movement to change everything about the building industry: how buildings are designed, built, operated, demolished, disposed of and rebuilt. “Green building” is now in
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Solar Program Extends Registration Through OctoberSolarize Philly, the Philadelphia Energy Authority’s first initiative to get more homes powered by the sun, has extended its signup period by one month, to Oct. 31. The program launched in April and has signed up more than 1,600 households to receive solar installations from three companies vetted by PEA:
MoreThe Trump administration has openly questioned climate science, but there are more reasons to be concerned about the president’s budget proposal by Jared Brey Three years ago, after decades of waiting and pestering city officials to do something, residents of Bridesburg, a riverside community in Philadelphia between Frankford and the great Northeast, met at a
MoreIce Storm by Heather Shayne Blakeslee In 1912, Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo made a gift of 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, D.C., as a sign of the close relationship between Japan and the United States. For centuries, the Japanese have revered the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossoms, which bloom in early spring and
MoreCopyright City of Philadelphia. Photo by Samantha Madera The People’s Mayor? by Alex Vuocolo At a campaign event in November 2015, then-mayoral-candidate Jim Kenney spoke to a packed room of Latino families and restaurant industry veterans about the importance of welcoming immigrants into the city. He stressed that newcomers were not “illegal immigrants” and condemned
MorePhoto by Margo Reed Moving Forward by Heather Shayne Blakeslee The new approach to Greenworks will be disorienting and disappointing for anyone who was looking for a big reveal on Mayor Kenney’s sustainability priorities. The new version, released in its printed form November 2016 by the Office of Sustainability (OOS), is emblematic of some big
MoreRetail Chain Unveils Large Solar Energy Project in New JerseyJersey-based arts and crafts retailer A.C. Moore hopes to cut energy costs by as much as 50 percent with the installation of a rooftop solar panel on its distribution warehouse in Berlin, New Jersey. The installation covers 12.5 acres of roof space with more than 11,000
MoreIllustration by Kathleen White Philadelphia Becomes the First U.S. World Heritage CityWe’ve always known Philadelphia is a world-class city, but now it’s official. On Nov. 6, the World Heritage Committee, part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), named Philadelphia the first World Heritage City in the U.S. The program honors and
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Photo courtesy of Kenney 2015 Power Shift by Heather Shayne Blakeslee On Nov. 3, the day before Mayor-elect Jim Kenney officially won his post, he started his public appearances for the day at South Philadelphia’s Barbacoa, the former spot of Vegan Commissary at 1703 S. 11th Street. The tiny restaurant was filled with a few
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