BRISTOL TOWNSHIP – Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger today toured The Bridge Business Center in Bristol Township, Bucks County, where $1 million in federal recovery funds are being used to install a modern energy system in a former Rohm & Haas laboratory.
Secretary Hanger witnessed a milestone in the project’s development, as seven micro-turbines were lifted by crane and placed on the roof of a building at 360 George Patterson Blvd., where renovations are underway in the 50,000-square-foot, multi-tenant facility.
“This is how recovery funds are making a real difference in people’s lives,” said Hanger. “In a community that has suffered from an economic downturn, we see this developer making not only a $4.5 million investment in adaptive reuse of a building on a designated brownfield site, but also in providing a clean, affordable and reliable source of energy for its tenants.”
In March, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced the $1 million Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority grant to the Keystone Redevelopment Group to install an energy system that uses gas-fired micro-turbines. This project is one of the first in the state to receive funding through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Through the installation of this system, total savings on energy costs over a 10-year period are expected to equal approximately $2 million. A significant portion of that savings – as much as $150,000 a year – will come from the sale of energy back to PECO. This system will reduce CO2 emissions by roughly 3 million pounds per year, the equivalent of removing 318 average sized passenger cars off the road.
The retrofitting of 360 George Patterson Blvd., the design and installation of its sustainable energy system, and employment by its tenants are expected to result in the creation of 100 high-wage jobs.
“Chemical research and development is an energy-intensive business,” Hanger said. The incorporation of this energy system is expected to make The Bridge Business Center highly competitive in the life sciences real estate market, and to attract tenants that will create hundreds of additional high-wage jobs in the future.”
The Bridge Business Center is located in a Keystone Innovation Zone. KIZs are established in communities with institutions of higher education, and are designed to foster innovation and create entrepreneurial opportunities. More than 600 jobs have been lost in Bristol Township since 2005 as employers Rohm & Haas and Jones New York downsized.
To learn more about how the federal economic stimulus will benefit communities across Pennsylvania, visit http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/redirector?varURL=http://www.recovery.pa.gov.
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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIADept. of Environmental ProtectionCommonwealth News BureauRoom 308, Main Capitol BuildingHarrisburg, PA 17120FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE6/25/2009CONTACT:John Repetz Phone: (717) 787-1323
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