Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
ENERGY STAR

Region 3 Office

Total Facility Area: 307,847 rentable square feet (RSF) (EPA share)
Estimated Personnel: 1,133 EPA personnel
Energy Consumption: 33,172,252,807 British thermal units (Btu) per year (EPA share)
Btu per RSF per Year: 107,756
Total Water Consumption: 8,051,166 gallons per year
Gallons per RSF per Year: 26.15

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2008.

Description

EPA's Mid-Atlantic regional office is responsible for programs in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the region has field operations and laboratories in Wheeling, West Virginia; Annapolis and Fort Meade, Maryland; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region's major program divisions are Air Protection, Environmental Assessment and Innovation, Hazardous Site Cleanup, Waste and Chemicals Management, Water Protection, and the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Unique Environmental Features

In 1996, Region 3 developed green lease language for renovating 300,000 square feet of space for the EPA Regional Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The next lease extension date for the Region 3 Office was May 1, 2008. For more information, read the Report on the Impact of EPA Region III's Green Building Lease Philadelphia, PA (PDF) (16 pp, 257K, About PDF). The green lease language included the following environmental features:

Energy Conservation

The building in which the Region 3 office is located was awarded the ENERGY STAR® label in 2008.
Although the bulk of the HVAC system was reused, EPA installed a state-of-the-art energy management control system that allows operators a tremendous amount of flexibility in monitoring and changing comfort levels.

Green Power

In FY 2008, EPA continued to support the renewable energy market by purchasing more than 212 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power through two separate Agencywide blanket contracts for renewable energy certificates (RECs), or “green tags,” from Sterling Planet, Luminant Energy Company, and FPL Energy . These purchases allowed EPA to offset 100 percent of electricity consumption for FY 2008 at the Region 3 Office, as well as many other EPA facilities across the Agency. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center, these contracts support renewable energy generation from wind, biomass, and landfill gas resources in nine states.
In June 2006, EPA signed a contract to acquire 110 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates (RECs), or "green tags," from 3 Phases Energy Services over the period September 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. This blanket purchase supplied EPA with enough RECs through FY 2007 to offset 100 percent of annual electricity consumption at the Region 3 Office and other EPA facilities not covered by separate green power contracts. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center , this contract supported wind power generation in California, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Green Building

During renovations, contractors recycled construction and demolition waste (e.g., wood, metals, cardboard, glass, and vinyl baseboards).
Approximately 11,000 fluorescent lamps were removed from the project site and diverted to a specialized recycling company. Fluorescent tubes contain mercury, which can pose environmental concerns if not recycled or disposed of properly.
Instead of buying new building materials, several items were reused during construction, including interior doors; the metal ceiling structure and ceiling tiles; portions of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system; lighting fixtures; bathroom tiles, fixtures, and stalls; and steel wall studs. These creative reuses helped the project finish 25 percent under budget.

Water Conservation

Restroom fixtures are low-flow, water conserving products.

Waste Reduction

To reduce paper use, all printers and copiers capable of double-sided printing have their defaults set to duplex printing.

Alternative Transportation

The office is located just above one of Philadelphia's main regional rail and subway stations.
Secure, interior bicycle parking facilities and onsite showers encourage other alternative commuting options.

Other Features

Region 3 has completed self-declaration for its environmental management system and hopes to become one of the next EPA offices to be ISO 14001-certified.
Contractors minimized air quality problems by limiting the emission of volatile organic compounds from adhesives, carpet, furniture, drywall, paint, and other wall coatings.

For More Information

Region 3's Pollution Prevention program has developed a Green Building Web site containing general information and resources.

Contact

Donna Sutsko (sutsko.donna@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA Region 3 (3PM20)
1650 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029
Phone: (215) 814-5616

Web site: www.epa.gov/region3