Meeting the Goals

Energy Use

With buildings and industry accounting for 72 percent of carbon emissions in Philadelphia, the 2030 District presents the region’s best opportunity to reduce its impact on climate change. Improved building performance also lowers operational costs, improves indoor air quality and tenant comfort, and enhances the resiliency of the city’s new and existing building stock to the effects of climate change.

Strategies to Meet Goal

Existing Buildings

Benchmarking energy use data is the first step toward understanding your building's performance.

Green Building United manages the City of Philadelphia's Building Energy Benchmarking Program and provides technical support to building owners and managers on how to use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to track their energy use data.

Conduct an energy audit or retrocommissioning to identify areas for improvement in your building.

To get started, visit The Hub, a searchable database of energy efficiency and sustainability services companies in Green Building United's region.

Start a competition!

Take advantage of Activity Kits, Energy Treasure Hunts, and Guidance Materials from EPA to start and energy reduction challenge in your building.

Take advantage of rebates and incentives to help finance improvements.

Visit PECO Smart Ideas and PGW energysense to see if your building is eligible for savings.

New Construction

Design your building to meet the 2030 Challenge for Planning goals.

For new construction and major renovations, 2030 District members can use the Zero Tool to establish energy baselines and reduction targets.

Take advantage of rebates and incentives to help finance your project.

Visit PECO Smart Ideas to see if your building is eligible for savings.

Two Liberty Place’s Chilled Water Plant Project redesigned and reconstructed a 4000-ton thermal plant serving a 58-story building, including multi-tenant office space, residential condominiums, and a restaurant without interrupting chilled water delivery to its tenants and residents. Four new highefficiency centrifugal chillers and twelve new cooling towers were assembled on site, replacing two existing 1000-ton chillers and all of the building’s cooling towers. In addition, a plate and frame heat exchanger for waterside economizing and a chiller optimization program were installed. The project achieved an impressive 47 percent energy reduction during its first 10 months of operation.

SEPTA is conducting a comprehensive energy retrofit of their headquarters building at 1234 Market Street using an ESCO financing model that pays for itself over time with the generated energy savings. The project’s energy conservation measures include remote lighting and control upgrades, building envelope improvements, motorized shades, air handling system and cooling tower refurbishments, electricity and cooling tower submetering, and a switch from off-site to on-site steam generation. The renovations are projected to produce 19 percent water usage reduction, 33.1 percent energy reduction, 85.4 percent reduction in heating load costs, and a combined annual savings of over $781,000.

Water Use

Using water efficiently in a building results in both direct operational cost savings and related energy savings, all while helping to improve water quality.

Strategies to Meet Goal

Existing Buildings

Benchmarking water use data is the first step toward understanding your building's performance.

Take advantage of existing resources.

Explore the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Savings Initiative and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense programs.

New Construction

Take advantage of existing beyond-code resources to design your building to meet the 2030 Challenge for Planning goals.

Consult the Whole Building Design Guide's Water Conservation resources, the LEED credit library for water efficiency, or the Living Building Challenge's water petal for strategies.

The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House (PRMH) has implemented several measures to reduce their water use and manage stormwater. Operational efficiency at PRMH is mission-critical, as every dollar saved can be re-invested to support families in need. PRMH outfitted all of their existing fixtures with lowflow toilets, shower heads, and faucet aerators and, as they expanded their main site, installed only low-flow fixtures from the outset. Their dining room is outfitted with a commercial quick-cycle dishwasher. On their site, PRMH has a zoned and programmed irrigation system and uses rain barrels to collect runoff. Lastly, PRMH installed an approximately 5,000 square foot green roof for resident recreational use that is compliant with the City of Philadelphia’s stormwater management requirements.

Stormwater Management

Green City, Clean Waters (GCCW) is the City of Philadelphia's plan to reduce stormwater pollution entering its combined sewer system through the use of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI.) The Philadelphia 2030 District will align with the goals of GCCW by communicating the value of GSI and sharing and expanding the resources available to owners and managers of the city's largest properties to encourage more GSI projects.

Strategies to Meet Goal

New Construction Regulatory Compliance

Review PWD Stormwater Regulations.

Evaluate eligibility for Philadelphia development bonuses and incentives including:

Consult case studies in Exceeding Intent: A Precedent Library of Exemplary Green Stormwater Infrustructure Projects.

Existing Building Retrofits

Review PWD Stormwater Retrofit Guidance Manual.

Evaluate eligibility for Philadelphia programs and incentives including:

Consult case studies including PECO's Green Roof.

Non-Compliance Strategies

Consult PWD's GSI Infrastructure Tools. 

Transportation Emissions

Transportation is the second largest source of carbon emissions in Philadelphia. Discouraging single-occupancy vehicle commuting in the Philadelphia 2030 District not only reduces transportation emissions but also improves quality of life issues including improving air quality and travel times.

Strategies to Meet Goal

Building Owners/Managers

Add shower facilities in buildings for tenant use
Make pedestrian access more attractive
Increase number of secure bicycle parking spaces
Increase plaza areas and site design to promote walking

Employers

Increase opportunities for telecommuting
Relax dress code to make bike/ped commuting easier
Expand employer transit benefit programs, including RideECO
Promote the use of bike share for employees and visitors including Indego
Set up company bike share for meetings and lunch travel including Indego Corporate Pass Program
Institute a parking cash out program
Increase incentives for car sharing/promotion of car sharing firms including through workplace partnerships
Implement a needs-based parking permit system
Charge daily as opposed to monthly for parking
Increase provision of electric vehicle charging parking spots
Provide free shuttle buses to and from major destinations

Institutions

Negotiate bulk fare contracts with SEPTA
Increase provision of electric vehicle charging parking spots
Incentivize car sharing
Provide free shuttle buses to and from major destinations

Brandywine Property Trust offers many alternative transportation opportunities for residents, employees, and visitors who come to the FMC Tower on 2929 Walnut Street. Through careful site selection, the tower provides access to high quality public transportation at 30th Street Station, promotes walking on the adjacent Schuylkill River Trail, and encourages biking with on-site storage and changing rooms. In addition, Brandywine Realty Trust partnered with Ride Systems to offer shuttle bus services for those commuting to and from the tower, serving 3,200 riders per month. Brandywine Realty Trust also has a strategic partnership with Lyft rideshare services to offer discounted rates to FMC Tower tenants and visitors.