Green Roof

After a hard day at work, weather permitting, Mark Masters heads for the third-floor deck outside his apartment and pulls up a chair to take in the view: Center City skyline in the distance and, right there in front of him, on the roof, what looks like a yard. It has grass, weeds, a few tree seedlings, and a thick groundcover, but this isn't a yard exactly. It's a green roof. "I'm doing my bit for the environment," says Masters, president of the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia in West Philly, whose green roof is his "yard.

I'm all for giving the undereducated, over-Budweisered campus crowd a chance to learn their Tucher from their tuchus . But what happens to the fizz of the city's hippest trend when craft beer goes college-town corporate? The massive new 300-seat City Tap House is a fascinating test case. The typical Philly beer-bar grunge has been thoroughly supplanted here by a soaring Mission wood space outfitted with salvaged planks and hammered copper. Fire pits blaze at night on the expansive "green roof" terrace of the second-floor balcony at University City's mod new Radian building, where well-scrubbed Ivy Leaguers network around tasting racks of wheat beer and thin-crusted pizzas beneath moonlit high-rise dorms.

Philadelphia is about to get a lot greener, from the top down. In a press conference September 2 at Peco Energy Co.'s Market Street headquarters, Mayor Nutter joined Peco's president and chief executive, Denis O'Brien; Philadelphia Horticultural Society President Jane Pepper and Free Library CEO Linda Johnson in announcing that the utility company is nearing completion of its "green roof," while the library plans its own green roof with Peco's financial...

Minutes after Mayor Nutter crowed about the city's environmental accomplishments and goals, several residents walking in Center City yesterday offered lukewarm support for Nutter's effort to make Philadelphia the "greenest city in America" by 2015. A young couple sitting near City Hall praised the city for making the environment a priority. "It's a nice city, but it would be better if it was clean," said Camille, who didn't want to give her last name. While they noted the latest change - Philadelphia's first green-roof bus shelter at 15th and Market streets - others had yet to recognize the innovation.

Area campuses have shown a commitment to green living with a variety of green dorm projects. Here's a sampling: Villanova University renovated an 80-year-old residence hall - the school's first green dorm. It boasts furniture made of recycled materials, two rain gardens that capture roof runoff (with displays that show the quantity), and lights fitted with motion sensors. Showers automatically shut off after eight minutes, though students can pull a cord to continue. "But it's a reminder that you've been in there for a while," said Robert Morro, associate vice president for facilities management.

Mention the Philadelphia Flower Show and here's what often comes to mind: big waves of colorful flowers, expensive exhibits, and gardens you can only dream of in your own backyard. That voyeuristic, fantasy-inspiring quality of the show, which runs through Sunday at the Convention Center, is part of the draw. But not everything on display is so overwhelming. You can easily miss quieter exhibits by the North American Rock Garden Society and the Philadelphia Water Department.

Liberals want defeat With the president, 100 senators and 435 congressmen all skirting around what they really would like to say regarding Iraq, please let me be blunt and tell it like it is. It's simple: The hatred of liberals for George Bush is so strong that they don't want America to win this war. Why? Because that would make Bush look right, and that's something they can't tolerate. In addition, liberals don't want the troop surge to work - for the same reason. Do you really think the Nancy Pelosis, Harry Reids, Chuck Schumers, Ted Kennedys, and Hillary Clintons of the world really want America to succeed to secure Iraq?

Call it Project EFFECT: The Sequel. Only this time, students in the SAVE program at Souderton Area High School will name their new eco-friendly building Connections. The building will be the most recent addition to a list of environmental activities undertaken by students in Students Against Violating the Earth since 1996, when the group embarked on plans to build the Project EFFECT house. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at West Broad Street Elementary School in Souderton.

Walking into the high-ceilinged lobby of the bright and shiny new Radnor Middle School in Wayne for the first time yesterday, eighth grader Dan McCone had the reaction that every principal, parent and school board member would hope for. "The first thought I have is, 'Wow!' " McCone said. "At first I was kind of sad that I had to leave the old building. It was really familiar. But now that I've seen the new one, I'm glad. I just hope I don't get lost. " Several other area school districts are also having their "wow" moments this fall, opening new buildings after years of planning.

William Jordan's path to affordable produce takes him on three city buses. At 46, Jordan is hindered by high blood pressure, asthma, and permanent damage to his right knee, but he makes the journey - on crutches, despite the heat, every Thursday afternoon - to stretch his SNAP (food stamp) dollars in an experimental program with an appropriate acronym: LIFE. This Local Initiative for Food Education at Greensgrow Farm in Kensington, now in its second summer, enables members to stretch their SNAP dollars while cultivating their ability to budget, plan, shop, and prepare meals.

Minutes after Mayor Nutter crowed about the city's environmental accomplishments and goals, several residents walking in Center City yesterday offered lukewarm support for Nutter's effort to make Philadelphia the "greenest city in America" by 2015. A young couple sitting near City Hall praised the city for making the environment a priority. "It's a nice city, but it would be better if it was clean," said Camille, who didn't want to give her last name. While they noted the latest change - Philadelphia's first green-roof bus shelter at 15th and Market streets - others had yet to recognize the innovation.

The city's newest green roof is also, in all likelihood, its smallest and oddest - a cheerful puff of plant life atop a bus-stop shelter at 15th and Market Streets. At all of 60 square feet - hardly as big as a living-room rug - it might not stop more than a few buckets full of rain from entering the city's aged storm-water system. But its mission remains ambitious: To show the crush of passersby at one of the city's busiest intersections the value of absorbing rainwater and stalling its flow.

Every time the Philadelphia Housing Authority tore down an outdated high-rise apartment building in recent years, a nonprofit corporation it controlled stepped in to develop new housing on the site. Under the direction of PHA's longtime executive director, Carl R. Greene, the nonprofit had a free hand to select architects, engineers, contractors, and lawyers, earning millions in tax-free development fees, and amassing $66 million in assets - mainly cash and short-term bonds - by 2010.

I'm all for giving the undereducated, over-Budweisered campus crowd a chance to learn their Tucher from their tuchus . But what happens to the fizz of the city's hippest trend when craft beer goes college-town corporate? The massive new 300-seat City Tap House is a fascinating test case. The typical Philly beer-bar grunge has been thoroughly supplanted here by a soaring Mission wood space outfitted with salvaged planks and hammered copper. Fire pits blaze at night on the expansive "green roof" terrace of the second-floor balcony at University City's mod new Radian building, where well-scrubbed Ivy Leaguers network around tasting racks of wheat beer and thin-crusted pizzas beneath moonlit high-rise dorms.

Given Ben Franklin's storied kite-and-key fascination with energy derived from the heavens, the printer-scientist undoubtedly would get a real charge out of the latest addition to his old neighborhood. Solar panels, 210 in all, have gone up on the roof of the historic Bourse building, the nation's first commodities exchange, circa 1895. Peco Energy Co.'s approval is the last hurdle before those rectangles of photovoltaic cells can start powering the lights and other electricity-gobbling systems in the 10-story complex near Independence Mall.

WITH THIS being an era of "going green," we would like to share some information about an up-and-coming energy-efficient trend that we believe could have major positive effects on our environment. Green roofs, used in Europe for some time, are becoming increasingly popular with owners of homes and businesses in the U.S. The reason is that it has been proven that green roofs last longer, absorb rainwater better (decreasing the need for drainage systems) and can save money by reducing energy costs.

Area campuses have shown a commitment to green living with a variety of green dorm projects. Here's a sampling: Villanova University renovated an 80-year-old residence hall - the school's first green dorm. It boasts furniture made of recycled materials, two rain gardens that capture roof runoff (with displays that show the quantity), and lights fitted with motion sensors. Showers automatically shut off after eight minutes, though students can pull a cord to continue. "But it's a reminder that you've been in there for a while," said Robert Morro, associate vice president for facilities management.

Jeffrey Lurie will see green at his new home, too. Before the Eagles owner and his wife, Christina , move into the old Annenberg estate in Wynnewood next year, they're doing substantial work. Now in its framing stages, and visible from the road behind Lower Merion High, is a two-story building to house a tennis court and a two-lane bowling alley. Permits on file at Lower Merion Township show that the building's "green" roof calls for solar panels and a growing medium to allow plantings.

Philadelphia is about to get a lot greener, from the top down. In a press conference September 2 at Peco Energy Co.'s Market Street headquarters, Mayor Nutter joined Peco's president and chief executive, Denis O'Brien; Philadelphia Horticultural Society President Jane Pepper and Free Library CEO Linda Johnson in announcing that the utility company is nearing completion of its "green roof," while the library plans its own green roof with Peco's financial...