Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center Blog

In the summer of 2011, The Penn State Center employed five interns focusing on various aspects of the Center’s work. Two of the interns who became very engaged with community stakeholders were Lacie Schreiner, a landscape architecture major, and John Friend, a landscape contracting major. During Lacie’s internship, one of her projects closely involved her…

The Penn State Center staff and interns worked with the Rosedale Block Cluster Initiative and Allegheny County Cooperative Extension over the summer and fall to explore ways in which the community organization could expand its operation and develop a new stream of revenue. Rosedale has a solid footing in the landscaping business (using an on-the-job…

The deconstruction of the 50-year-old Mellon Arena will bring the Pittsburgh area a new look as well as an opportunity for local businesses. The Penn State Center, in partnership with Rosedale Block Cluster, Inc., and Bey Brothers Landscaping, salvaged more than 200 plants from the Civic Arena site in late November. The project provided employment,…

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.”  —…