UGP’s flagship project is the Big Green Building.  This 8 story, 80,000 square foot building will put Philadelphia on the map for innovation of sustainable buildings, by being the world’s most fully environmentally integrated mixed-use structure.  The Big Green Building will be LEED Platinum certified, the highest rating of sustainability by the United States Green Building Council.  Its environmentally conscious design features include solar energy production, wind energy production, and geothermal well technology.  Additionally, the Big Green Building not only captures and reuses 100% of the rainwater that falls on the site, but also cycles all wastewater through a treatment system known as the “Living Lab.”  This system converts sewage water and solid waste into a form useful for secondary functions such as bathing, washing clothes, watering plants, heating and cooling, etc.  The finished structure will use recycled bio-friendly materials and energy-efficient appliances.

The EcoLab, which will be included in the building, will exist as a partnership with local academic institutions and serve as a venue for testing green products and systems.  As an independent laboratory, testing will be free from manufacturers’ influence, which will allow for objective data collection.  The EcoLab will provide a service similar to Consumer Reports in its scope yet more comprehensive in that the EcoLab will conduct full lifecycle analysis of eco products.

The UGP EcoNexus website will work in coordination with the Big Green Building. It will also be supported by EcoLab results. The building will have thousands of data points that feed into the EcoNexus, which will allow people to see what kind of energy the building takes in from its sustainable sources, and how the energy is used in the building.  The EcoNexus will become an important start-up site and database for green building, and the first site of its kind giving detailed sustainable building data, and monitoring the building systemically as a “living machine.”  The site will offer information and reviews on green products and services and a feature that allows users to enter information about their houses, and find out which products are best for them, and the best way to be installed.  UGP will completely own EcoNexus, which will allow UGP to become more than a typical non-profit, as our professional EcoNexus green-collar staff will continue to grow.

UGP is getting closer to achieving these goals.  Our Board of Directors is intimately involved with the process, along with a staff of advisors, grant writers, and interns.  We have recently held a design Charrette and continue to meet with our partners and advisors.  The recent Charrette brought together more than two dozen of the area’s most well-respected and innovative designers, architects and builders, such as Bedwell Construction, Ballinger AE, A&E Construction (builders of the renowned Heinz Center, Pennsylvania’s greenest building), and Greenable, to plan out the Big Green Building, which will be located on the corner of Broad and South Streets, a major intersection in the heart of Philadelphia.  Since that meeting, management of the Big Green Building project has been given to Randy White, Vice President of Business Development at Bedwell Construction.  Randy brings his considerable talents and experience in project management to know what steps must be taken to progress forward.  Randy is also helping us in our pursuit of certain grant-based funding opportunities.

Urban Green Partnership is funded by grants and donors.  Our grant team is working hard on securing grants for the Big Green Building and other projects.  Currently our grant team has identified over 50 private and state funders whose funding criteria match UGP’s mission and project goals.  The identified potential funders are limited to those meeting the following limitations:

• Funding of projects in Philadelphia, southwest Pennsylvania, or nationally
• Funding that may be used for general operating support, project support, or seed money
• Funding aimed at addressing issues of the environment, climate change, economic and community development, alternative energy development, building and land purchase

Some of these grant organizations we are currently pursuing are The Samuel S. Fels Fund, Wallace Global Fund, the William Penn Foundation, and the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.  Our largest grant prospect is the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, which we are applying for a total of $220,000, divided between various aspects of construction.

Urban Green Partnership is on its way to making Philadelphia more environmentally responsible in a way that stimulates commerce and innovation while creating new jobs.  We feel UGP is a vital force in making Philadelphia a world leader in urban sustainable living, much as the city is already world renowned in the medical and pharmaceuticals industries.

Community Outreach

                GreenFest Philly  In early 2006 a group of people sitting in a row home in South Philly were trying to figure out how to help the people of Philadelphia start to make their lives a little bit greener. They were looking for a way to make the environment something everyone in Philadelphia could connect to no matter what their opinions of the environment. “We need to meet people where they are” was the idea the Urban Green Partnership kept coming back to as it searched for ways to educate as many people as possible about the environmental issues facing the city and the Delaware valley. In march of 06 the idea of hosting a green street party was hatched and 6 months later the 2nd & South Streetsreet Green Festival was held. Over 6500 and 40 vendors showed up just to see what the crazy bunch of south Philly folks were up to.

               Michael Nutter, Babette Josephs, Alen Butkovits, and Maurice Sampson were just a few of the speakers that turned out in the first year to show their support for the environment and their passion for making Philadelphia the next great city. Working with Recycle Now the festival helped collect over 2000 signatures in support of increasing the city wide incentivized recycling program. The 1 day long festival went so well that the Urban Green Partnership decided to host a second festival in 2007.

               What a jump, in 2007 the festival grew to 4 blocks, 130 vendors and was attended by over 14,000 people. Again the Urban Green Partnership teamed up with another local organization, the Delaware Valley Green Building Council to highlight the need for more green building and how to help Philly move in a greener direction. The festival was also able to work with the city and become part of Green Plan Philadelphia.

               The 2008 festival was based around water education and was a thrilling sucess.  Over 20,000 people attended the event combined with over 200 exhbitors made GreenFest Philly 08 one of the biggest Green event in the region.  UGP is still working on making Greenfest about fun and diversity and has plenty of room to improve on this year’s succes in 2009.

                See everyone in 2009

• Creating monthly articles for philadelphia community news letters on energy saving
  tips October Article, November Article, December Article
• Creating and supporting Philly’s first Green Zone with a green business competition (Waste Less Business Compentition) and the first street to have recycling bins installed along side the trash bins (Urban Green Bins)