The Penn State Center is a lead organization bringing new perspectives to the issue of home energy evaluations and weatherization retrofits through the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory–funded project. By partnering with organizations that have common objectives but that serve different clients, the project will reach a cross section of urban as well…
Penn State is pleased to offer an online Bachelor of Arts degree in Energy and Sustainability Policy (ESP), in a collaboration between the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, the Dutton e-Education Institute, and the World Campus. The BA in ESP emphasizes five competency areas: Energy Industry Knowledge, Sustainability Ethic, Global Perspective, Analytic Skills, and…
Ken Tamminga, Penn State professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture, was named the northeast regional winner of the 2011 Outreach Scholarship W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) and the National Outreach Scholarship Conference. Tamminga’s Pittsburgh Studio, in partnership with the center and…
This fall marks the fourth year that our center’s Pittsburgh Studio will work with advanced students from University Park’s landscape architecture program. Directed by Ken Tamminga, Penn State professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture, the students engage Pittsburgh communities in cooperation with the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, office…
The Penn State Center launched its 2011 Green Infrastructure Technical Workshop series in April with the Sustainable Sites Initiative Primer. Conducting the four-hour workshop was José Almiñana, a current member of the Technical Core Committee of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES), and his associate Laura Hansplant from Andropogen. Since the first workshop, the focus of the series has been…
The Penn State Center presented the “Be Green, Make Green” summer school program at four Pittsburgh public school locations. Summer Dreamers targeted middle-school students’ summer slump by immersing them in a highly engaging learning environment and exploring sustainability in science and technology. The students had a wide variety of experiences. They started their own urban…
“The technical resources being provided by Penn State to our community are invaluable to our efforts. We are a small community with limited resources and limited staff. These resources are helping us move forward in our planning process for green infrastructure. As a flood-prone community, we believe green infrastructure will help us help ourselves.” —…
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…
In many low-income urban neighborhoods, residents do not have access to fresh produce or other healthy food. Students in a food products marketing course participated in a project to develop a food retailing plan for eight marginalized communities in the Pittsburgh area. To kick off the project, Deno De Ciantis, director of the Penn State…
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…