PECO was nominated by 3 organizations. To view the other nomination summaries, click here and here.

PECO has begun a five year environmental initiative, aimed at making the company more environmentally friendly through energy efficiency and other cutting edge efforts. Key components of this initiative include the Design and Construction of PECO’s first “green” building in West Chester, PA. and the creation of the largest green roof in an urban setting in Pennsylvania on their headquarters building.. PECO is also pursuing LEED-EB certification at existing sites around the region.

PECO’s Environmental Initiative is part of Exelon’s environmental stewardship program entitled “Exelon 2020: A Low-Carbon Roadmap”. This comprehensive environmental plan of PECO’s parent company sets the goal of reducing, offsetting or displacing more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020.

As part of this program, PECO is aggressively upgrading its facilities across the Philadelphia region to make them more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The first step in this process was the completion of a new Service Center in West Chester, PA that was designed and built using guidelines from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). This project is in the final stages of Certification under the New Construction category of LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The new building has been designed to be sustainable and also be a model for similar Service Center facilities within Exelon. The building uses about 20 percent less energy in everyday operations than a similar size new building that just meets current energy code. Innovative features include a natural light harvesting system paired with a sensor based lighting system that decreases lighting levels based on the amount of natural light that that is conveyed into the space. In addition, the building’s systems use 40 percent less water than code mandated levels, providing significant savings based on water efficiency and conservation.

Another major initiative is the new green roof system that has been installed on the north building at PECO’s Philadelphia headquarters at 2301 Market Street. This 45,000 square foot (over an acre) living roof is the largest green roof in an urban setting in Pennsylvania. The living roof is expected to absorb about 60 to 70 percent of the estimated 1.5 million gallons of rainwater that fall on the structure annually. During the green roof’s peak growth period in summer, rainwater absorption is projected at 85 percent. During heavy storms, the roof is expected to reduce runoff by at least 50 percent. This will reduce the strain on overburdened city storm sewers, and reduce the erosion and flooding impact of runoff downstream from the site.

The green roof is expected to help insulate the building and as a result reduce energy used to heat and cool the structure. The ambient surface temperature of the living roof is expected to be 60 to 80 degrees cooler in the summer when compared to the ambient temperature of the conventional black roof it is replacing. This also helps reduce the overall heat island effect of the downtown urban environment.

PECO is also making continuing energy efficiency and environmental impact improvements at all of its sites in the five county Philadelphia area. These improvements will include application for LEED-EB (Existing Building) Certification at numerous sites in the years 2009 through 2012.

PECO’s Environmental Initiative involves taking a proactive approach to environmental stewardship. The benefits to local and regional communities are extensive, and not limited to PECO’s facility based improvements.

Community and environmental initiatives will be yielding benefits for years to come. These include the following:

• New energy efficient LED crown lighting system on PECO’s downtown headquarters tower. The new full color system will display community news and information on local non-profit and community based organizations. Over 17,000 messages have been displayed on the crown since its installation.

• PECO has committed to increased purchase of wind energy to supply the main office building in Center City, decreasing the carbon foot-print of this major office facility.

• The company is increasing its use of hybrid and biodiesel vehicles throughout the region.

• PECO has a corporate-wide partnership with ENERGY STAR, and continuing energy education and energy savings programs with its 1.6 million electric and 480,000 natural gas customers across the region.

• Ongoing reductions in energy and water consumption at new and existing PECO facilities, through the use of LEED based Design, Construction and Renovation principles.