How Philly Greens Buildings: 2030 District with Alex Dews

City Rising

Alex Dews, Director of Green Building United, joins us to talk about the Philadelphia 2030 District, with goals including 50% reductions in energy use, water consumption, and transportation emissions (below baselines) by the year 2030. Find out how cities are combating climate change is changing the buildings we work, live and use every day.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Where buildings use the most energy
• How Philadelphia joined the 2030 District Initiatives
• Key (and surprising!) stakeholders in the Philadelphia 2030 initiative
• How Philadelphia learned from other cities in the 2030 district
• What is the largest building in the PHL signed on to the 2030 initiative?
• Challenges for building owners and Philadelphia to be energy efficient
• Philadelphia's energy benchmarking program
• What drives participants to join the initiative.
• How a local government works on sustainability when the federal government talks about pulling out of Paris Climate Accord

This is episode 2 of the 2030 districts. If you haven't listened, go back and listen to Episode 2, with Angelica Ciranni, the Pittsburgh 2030 District Senior Director.

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Additional resources from today's episode:

• Green Building United website - 2030 District
• 2030 Districts website

Season One of City Rising is supported by the Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP). Visit cuspproject.org for more info.

For more information on City Rising, visit greenphillyblog.com/podcast

About Alex Dews

Alex has spent the past ten years working on green building and urban sustainability in Philadelphia. Alex worked in real estate development prior to leading program implementation and progress reporting for Greenworks Philadelphia, the city's comprehensive sustainability plan. Alex is a LEED AP and received a BA in English from the University of Vermont and an MS in Sustainable Design from Philadelphia University where he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Architecture.