September 15, 2004

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AMBLER TO HOST SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FORUM FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Universities and colleges are at a critical turning point in the use of energy to keep their buildings and facilities running efficiently to ensure the best educational experience for their students.

For many institutions, it is a time of rising fuel costs and a laundry list of new and ongoing maintenance projects competing with the need for expansions and renovations with smaller budgets to enact them.

On Tuesday, September 21, representatives from more than 40 institutions, including 15 universities, will gather at Temple University Ambler to seek new opportunities for — and overcome the barriers to — an important move toward sustainable energy.

The Higher Education Energy and Operations Forum, held in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy (PCIEP), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Rebuild America program, will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Bright Hall Lounge, at the Temple University Ambler campus, 580 Meetinghouse Road.

“Universities throughout the country have a backlog of maintenance and renovation projects that they are involved with. Energy efficiency often does not come to the top of the list of priorities,” said Dr. Jeffrey Featherstone, Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler and Chair of the Department of Community and Regional Planning. “Energy efficiency typically has higher up front costs, even though the payback is usually quite favorable in the long run. Savings, depending on the technology, might not occur for five to 10 years. We believe that universities should be at the forefront of the energy-efficiency movement and serve as models for the commercial and institutional sectors.”

Participants in the September 21 forum will include a wide variety of higher education institutions, energy-related companies, and financial institutions such as Arcadia University, Cabrini College, Delaware Valley College, Millersville University, North Carolina State University, Penn State Abington, Rosemont College, Villanova University, Widener University, Johnson Controls, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Chevron Energy Solutions, and the Governor’s Green Government Council.

“With hiring teachers and providing services for students, energy might not be on the minds of the individuals running higher education institutions, but it is usually a significant part of their operating budget year in and year out. Our goal is to get these various institutions together so that they can interact and begin working to solve today’s energy issues,” said Susan Guard, the Regional Team Leader for the DOE’s Rebuild America program. “Rebuild America is a technical assistance program that focuses on energy efficiency and reusable energy in five sectors — state and local, commercial, public housing, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities. Hopefully we’ll be able to provide additional workshops focusing on specific energy needs and interests.”

Temple University Ambler, an active member of the PCIEP, has a long history of promoting environmental concepts in and out of the classroom.

Temple University Ambler purchases 200,000 kilowatt hours of wind energy each year from provider Community Energy Inc. On September 21, following the energy forum, Temple University Ambler administration and representatives from PECO Energy will also gather to break ground on a new athletic building that strongly promotes alternative energy concepts.

The new Intercollegiate Athletics Field House — part of a $4.5 million project, which included construction of new athletics fields at the Ambler campus — will be located off Woods Drive near the baseball and softball fields at the Ambler campus. The groundbreaking for the building, which will include an innovative “green roof” component, will take place at 3:30 p.m.

With the help of a $50,000 grant from PECO Energy, Temple University Ambler will develop the green roof structures on the new athletic facility. Green roofs are a living biological community of plants and microorganisms growing in a lightweight medium that provide an environmentally sound alternative to a traditional roof system.

According to company president Denis O’Brien, PECO and its parent company, Exelon Corporation, “support and value advancements in environmental engineering.”

“PECO Energy is proud to sponsor the Green Roof Garden at Temple’s Ambler campus. Green roof technology can play an important role environmentally and we are proud to sponsor the green roof garden at Temple University’s Ambler campus,” O’Brien said. “The education and research opportunities of this green roof garden will highlight are aligned with PECO’s continued commitment to our region and the environment.”

The green roof garden will provide substantial educational and research opportunities for both students and faculty on campus.

Horticulture Assistant Professor Sinclair Adam and Landscape Architecture Assistant Professor Skip Graffam have already begun research into the types of plants that would be most viable for green roof plantings in the mid-Atlantic region.

“It’s an opportunity for our students to observe how this technology is moving forward and will essentially act as a ‘lab’ building for us to conduct actual measurements,” Adam said.

For more information, on the Higher Education Energy and Operations Forum, call the Center for Sustainable Communities at Temple University Ambler at 215-283-1286. For more information on the green roof garden project at Temple University Ambler, call 215-283-1290.

CONTACT: James Duffy, (215) 283-1290, duffyj@temple.edu, release available via e-mail