Making It Easier to Be Green

Six municipalities and communities along the Allegheny and Ohio rivers — Natrona, Springdale, Sharpsburg, Etna, Carnegie, and Coraopolis — are working with The Penn State Center to take a greener and more collaborative approach to addressing common infrastructure problems. “We’re giving them training and tools to take a more environmentally and economically sustainable approach,” explained…

Mid-Atlantic Gets Smart about Its Energy Grid

Nine utility companies in Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are engaged in U.S. Department of Energy Smart Grid Investment projects. These multi-state projects will improve grid efficiency and operations, reduce peak load demand, and enhance grid reliability by installing more than 12 million smart meters. Penn State was recently awarded $5 million…

Solar Resource and Training Center Receives Funding

Penn State was recently awarded $2 million for the creation of a regional Mid-Atlantic Solar Resource and Training Center serving New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware. Solar train-the-trainer facilities will be located at the Pittsburgh Green Innovators building and at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The solar train-the-trainer initiative will provide online, classroom, and hands-on…

Students’ Experiences in Larimer Enrich CED Course

In our previous newsletter, we reported on a Green Space market study. That project has evolved into a student research experience led by associate professor of rural sociology Clare Hinrichs. Students in her Community, Environment, and Development (CED) capstone course have been studying the social impact of greening efforts in Larimer, one of Pittsburgh’s marginalized…

Green Innovator Initiative

The Pittsburgh Green Innovators envision a fully sustainable campus system that supports a superlative quality of life and serves as this city’s emerald jewel. It engages multidisciplinary teams from business, labor, government, nonprofits, and universities, as well as experts from around the world who employ the science of sustainability to meet modern global challenges and…