April 2006

PHILADELPHIA, PA: From flood-prone parking lots to poor indoor air quality, there is tremendous economic opportunity in developing environmentally friendly solutions, products and processes. But the scope of so-called "sustainable design" is so vast that it cannot effectively be tackled by any one entity.

"Sustainability is a very 'horizontal' topic," says Rob Fleming, associate professor of architecture at Philadelphia University and co-director of the Consortium for Sustainable Design and Research for Southeastern Pennsylvania. "Sustainable design ranges from the molecular level to the regional planning level and must take into account economic, social and ecological issues."

The consortium, seeded with $1 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is a joint effort among BFTP, Philadelphia University, Temple University and Villanova University. The project promotes and advances sustainability initiatives, such as environmentally benign waste treatment technologies, use of recycled materials and alternative energy technologies.

A Profound Market Share Opportunity
"Sustainable design is the most profound market share opportunity for the construction industry today," Fleming notes. "Everything involved in the design, building, use and demolition of buildings impacts the environment. Companies that are ahead of that curve are going to be able to grow their businesses in a very effective way."

Fleming realized early on that addressing sustainability issues required a broad perspective. "Temple's engineering program is doing a lot of great work in brownfield remediation at the molecular level," he says. "At the same time, Villanova is doing some tremendous work on waste product recycling from a chemical perspective. When you couple their expertise with our expertise in design and architecture, you start to see how these become complementary efforts when applied to sustainability issues."

The consortium is currently turning its attention to the Ft. Washington Office Park—an area that constantly gets flooded. "Simply put, there is too much impervious asphalt and too many buildings that accelerate runoff," Fleming says. "We will be creating an integrated design with engineers, planners, building architects and landscape architects. If we can fix all the problems, the office park could live up to its potential and have 100% occupancy."

The Glue that Binds It Together
Fleming calls BFTP "the glue that binds the consortium together." Dr. Rominder Suri, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, director of the Center for the Environment at Villanova and an active member of the consortium, agrees. "BFTP brought the three universities together, pooling their different strengths. In addition, through the Technology Commercialization Network and their efforts at identifying and securing federal research funds, they continue to fuel our efforts."

The consortium is also pooling its expertise to tackle air quality in office and residential buildings. Traditionally, this would be a ventilation issue, but the multidisciplinary approach has the team looking at catalytic nano-materials with antibacterial attributes that could be coated on walls and floors to clean and disinfect air. "In addition, no energy would be needed by this technology to clean the air," says Suri.

Important in Both Urban and Rural Areas
Sustainable design is just as important in rural areas as in urban offices. As more and more farmland is being turned into housing developments in Chester County, a battle is being waged by new homeowners and the farmers who employ a century-old technique of using animal manure to fertilize their fields.

"We didn't realize until we got involved with this project that every 2,000 square feet of construction generates one ton of wallboard waste that winds up in landfills," says Suri. "We have identified an application that when we combine wallboard waste with the animal manure, it greatly reduces the smell without impacting the fertilizing effects. In addition, it protects our surface water by preventing the leaching of nutrient chemicals from manure." The method is undergoing the patent process and clearly has potential use far beyond the former farm fields of Chester County.

"A green bottom line is the goal," Suri says. "Implementing clean technologies can help business both from a cost savings and public perception perspective. We help them look at the problem and solution holistically."

The consortium also plays an educational role. In the past year, the consortium reached over 9,000 people through research publications, seminars and short courses.

Fleming says the consortium has such potential to fuel the economy that they are planning to take the concept statewide. "The consortium is looking at institutions across the state that can contribute to and benefit from this initiative," he says.