Greening Friends Center
Friends Association of Higher Education's offices are located at Friends Center which is undergoing a “green” renovation. The two larger buildings on the campus will be fossil-fuel free and nearly water neutral. The landmark project will not only protect the earth, it will also lower long term operating costs and preserve Friends Center for another generation.
Friends Center’s “Turning Quaker Gray to Quaker Green” campaign has attracted people as diverse as policy makers, high-rise developers, church members, and IKEA managers who come to celebrate and learn. Local media report this project as “a beacon of hope,” “a distinct ecological witness to the Religious Society of Friends and beyond.”
Philadelphia Inquirer (July 6, 2007) quotes Pat McBee, the capital campaign director: “We want to be a model for other property owners and building professionals to come here, kick the tires, learn that these things work, that they’re cost effective, they’re beautiful, there’s nothing you’re really sacrificing, and it’s worth doing.” Leading-edge practices selected for implementation include solar panels and a vegetative roof (installed in June 2007), geothermal heating and cooling (drilling scheduled for November 2007), purchased wind power (used since 1998), water storage and conservation, and energy efficiency measures to reduce consumption. Buildings account for 40-70% of energy consumption in the U.S..
The project has excited Friends and non-Friends alike who are generously contributing to the capital campaign to help complete this project. For more, see www.friendscentercorp.org. If you would like to help “Turn Quaker Gray to Quaker Green,” contact Pat McBee at 215-563-8832 or pmcbee@friendscentercorp.org.