Green Fund awards up to $50K for nine campus projects

With newly selected Green Fund Grant recipients, Penn will further its plans for a sustainable campus.

Earlier this month, nine projects were selected to receive a Green Fund Grant for a maximum of $50,000 each. The projects include green renovations to Addams Hall and Psi Upsilon (Castle) fraternity, energy measuring meter installations at the New Bolton Center and reduction of the carbon footprint at the Morris Arboretum.

Fourteen proposals were originally submitted to the Green Fund Review Board, and the winners were selected by a “complete consensus,” according to Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Dan Garofalo. This review board was comprised of nine members who represented the faculty, staff and students, according to Sustainability Initiative Associate Sarah Fisher.

Green Fund projects are intended to help Penn meet its sustainability goals outlined in the University’s Climate Action Plan, Garofalo said. A major aim of the plan is to create an opportunity for the community to learn about sustainability, according to Facility and Real Estate Services spokeswoman Jen Rizzi.

The goal of the “Greening of the Castle Fraternity” is to “save energy and reduce our carbon footprint,” according to College sophomore Lambros Theofanidis, the project coordinator. This project addresses four components of the Climate Action Plan ­— to build green, to learn sustainability, to minimize waste and to conserve energy, Theofanidis said.

The changes will enable the fraternity to save 50 percent of its energy output through the re-insulation of the house, the replacement of the steam controls and the installation of new efficient lighting sensors.

The “Shades of Green Project” will implement sustainable design in Addams Hall, according to College sophomore Joanna Karaman, the leader of the project. Light sensors for measuring natural sunlight and low flow automatic faucet and automatic hand dryers will be installed, she said.

This project’s main focus is to reduce water consumption — the project will install a tank system that uses sink water to flush the toilets along with the installation of chemical urinals, Karaman added. Students will film a documentary during the building’s retrofit.

The “Warmth from Waste Wood at the Morris Arboretum” project will install a hydronic heater unit in the horticulture garage. This will reduce the center’s carbon footprint by utilizing the easily accessible wood from damaged trees, according to Natural Areas Section Leader at Horticulture Anne Brennan. Brennan said this will hopefully reduce the heating bill by 50 percent.

The “Energy Efficiency/Sub-Metering at the New Bolton Center” project will install meters to determine the average energy usage in the buildings. The data from the meters will identify which buildings are using the most energy and make recommendations for reducing energy consumption, according to Business Administrator at the New Bolton Center Karin Cronin.

These project selections will hopefully occur every semester, Fisher said.

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